MMM^IMIMMM^IMM^^ 


^Jj-  lyyq^ 


M^ 


}~Ot^ 


IMIMMIMM^I^ 


:\^ 


:r^2.^£*%\yA 


vNS<> 


>"i^ 


^t  \Klt  ®ItW%%  ^ 


%: 


O' 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


*A 


3: 


Presented    by    \  x-Q 


A.3oW'T)e\A^\^\,-D 


Division 


Section 


ZK 


.H37 


I 


-"*«^ 


^X<-  \yvca.  yH/(^<-^ 


THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM, 


A  SEEIES    OF   ESSAYS. 


BY 

V 

GEOKGE  ALBREE. 


A    MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 


PRINTED  FOR  PRIVATE  CIRCULATION. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT   &   CO. 

1881. 


Copyright,  1880,  by  Joseph  Albree. 


^t/  ^ 


^^eJ-e^n^tetz-   €<?■ 


k.J^^.,...MAJ^.A 


^€ia4^€€d    €>-. 


s^JcJAML 


iAjr.AJU.j...^..^L4A^.tA^^  /aa/. 


jf..id.j.  ..^JL^ 


n  JMemoriam* 


GEOEGE    ALBEEE. 

Born  in  Salem,  Massacliusetts,  February  1st,  1803. 

Came  to  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  December  25tli,  1825. 

Married  to  Martha  Curling,  March  27th,  1828. 

Lost  his  beloved  wife,  October  1st,  1867. 

Died  suddenly  in  Pittsburgh,  February  20th,  1880. 


PEEFAOE. 


As  this  volume  is  intended  for  private  circulation  among 
our  father's  personal  friends,  it  seems  proper  that  we,  his 
children,  should  briefly  state  the  reason  for  its  publication. 

During  the  last  fifteen  years  of  our  father's  life,  a  gradual 
but  very  perceptible  change  took  place  in  his  speculative; 
theological  opinions  and  in  his  views  of  religious  truth. 
This  divergence  from  the  ordinarily  received  belief  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he  had  been  an  elder  for 
forty  years,  while  not  affecting  his  hearty  acceptance  of  the 
main  points  of  the  Calvinistic  faith,  was  nevertheless  so 
positive  and  distinct  in  character,  that  it  was  not  possible 
for  him  to  manifest  the  energy,  activity,  and  heartiness 
which  had  marked  his  life  in  earlier  years.  He  was  so 
conscious  of  this  change  in  his  views,  and  of  the  anomalous 
position  in  which  it  placed  him  towards  his  Christian  breth- 
ren, that  he  was,  at  times,  almost  determined  to  sever  his 
official  connection  with  the  visible  church  organization, 
and,  in  the  method  most  in  accord  with  his  own  theory, 
devote  his  energies  to  the  welfare  of  the  criminal  classes, 
with  whom  he  had  providentially  been  placed  in  contact 
as  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Allegheny  County  Work- 


8  PREFACE. 

House,  and  whose  confidence  and  affection  he  seemed  to 
gain  so  easily. 

Being  firmly  convinced  by  years  of  careful  study  of 
the  Bible,  and  by  the  results  of  his  own  experience,  that 
the  views  of  religious  truth  he  held  so  tenaciously  were 
clearly  taught  in  Scripture,  and  that  their  prevalence  among 
Christians  would  be  followed  by  the  greater  triumph  of 
Gospel  principles,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  retain  them 
in  his  own  mind  as  themes  of  quiet  meditation.  Finding 
in  them,  as  he  thought,  the  key  that  would  open  many  a 
dark  and  mysterious  problem  of  human  existence,  springs 
of  enjoyment  in  every  j)hase  of  spiritual  experience,  and 
sources  of  consolation  in  times  of  trouble  and  affliction, 
he  was  always  ready  and  anxious  to  make  them  known 
to  all,  and  urge  their  acceptance  by  those  to  whom  they 
might  seem  scriptural.  Being  to  a  certain  extent  mystical, 
although  eminently  practical  when  applied  to  every-day 
life,  these  views  Avere  often  misapprehended  and  their 
proclaimer  regarded  as  one  who,  having  departed  from 
what  were  usually  accepted  as  the  old  and  the  safe  paths, 
would  preach  another  Gospel.  Pained  by  repeated  mani- 
festations of  this  feeling,  and  to  correct,  if  possible,  the 
misconception  of  the  truths  he  loved  so  dearly,  as  well  as 
in  the  hope  of  leading  some  of  his  friends  to  see  the  truths 
of  the  Gospel  of  Grace  as  they  appeared  to  his  own  mind 
he  concluded  to  give  expression  to  his  views  in  a  volume 
composed  of  a  series  of  essays,  that  he  might  offer  to  any 
who  would  be  sufficiently  interested  to  read  it. 


PRE  FA  CE.  9 

In  the  midst  of  his  work,  and  before  his  pnrpose  was 
completed,  he  was  suddenly  called  home,  leaving  these 
essays  in  their  present  shape,  some  of  them  only  partially 
finished  and  awaiting  further  additions.  Two  of  them — 
those  on  "Prayer'^  and  '^The  Sabbath" — had  been  published 
as  pamphlets,  but  are  now  presented  in  condensed  form. 

Knowing  well  how  thoroughly  our  father  enjoyed  the 
preparation  of  this  volume,  and  the  pleasure  with  which 
he  anticipated  its  publication,  his  children  determined,  after 
his  death,  to  carry  out  his  purpose,  as  far  as  it  was  in  their 
power,  by  placing  his  manuscript  in  the  form  of  a  memorial 
volume  for  distribution  among  his  friends. 


CONTENTS. 


God's  Manifestations  of  Himself 

The  Gospel  not  to  Conyekt  the  World    . 

Characteristics  of  the  Jewish  Dispensation 

The  Jewish  Nation  and  its  Future  Destiny 

The  Coming  of  Christ    . 

Perversions  of  Scripture 

Organization     . 

Pardon  of  Sin  . 

The  Abiding  Comforter 

Prayer        .... 

A  Dark  Problem 

Aphorisms  and  Eeflections 

The  Sabbath 

Suffering  .... 

Criminals  and  Prison  Reform 


PAGE 

13 

23 

47 

63 

93 

116 

133 

153 

164 

174 

200 

210 

225 

250 

261 


11 


THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 


GOD'S  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  HIMSELF. 

"  Of  Him,  and  through  Him.  and  to  Him  are  all  things :  to  whom 
be  gloi'y  forever." — Romans  xi.  36. 

"  All  things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was  not  any  thing 
made  that  was  made.  In  Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of 
men." — John  i.  3,4. 

"God  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  His  Son,  whom 
He  hath  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also  He  made  the 
world."— Heb.  i.  2. 

"  And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto  Him  then  shall  the 
Son  also  Himself  be  subject  unto  Him  that  put  all  things  under  Him, 
that  God  may  be  all  in  all."— 1  Cor.  xv.  28. 

The  general  facts  gathered  from  these  passages  are,  the 
statement  of  creation  by  Divine  power ;  the  object  of  crea- 
tion,— God's  glory ;  the  agency  by  which  all  is  accomplished 
— His  Son.  God's  glory  in  the  creation  of  the  world  and 
the  race  of  men  is  the  theme  of  revelation.  God's  purpose 
in  the  creation  of  men,  as  it  has  been  unfolded  in  revelation, 
is  a  purpose  of  Love.  By  the  development  of  this  pur- 
pose of  Love  to  His  creatures,  God  has  connected  human 
life  and  destiny  with  His  own  glory.  His  love  has  been 
so  deep  and  wide  that  it  has  made  the  existence  of  man  an 
essential  part  of  His  glory.     That  entire  union  of  Him- 

2  13 


24  TniNGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

self  witli  the  race  He  had  called  into  conscious  life  and 
being, — that  transcendent  manifestation  of  love  and  honor 
in  the  assumption  of  human  form,— have  inseparably  con- 
nected the  race  with  its  Creator. 

The  manifestations  of  this  purpose  of  love,  while  con- 
stant and  progressive,  have  assumed  conditions  and  forms 
^grouping  themselves  in  classes  and  extending  through  fixed 
definite  periods  of  time.  They  may  be  designated  as  peri- 
ods of  Liberti/,  Law,  Grace,  and  Glory.  Through  two  the 
race  has  passed  ;  in  the  third,  and  probably  near  its  close,  it 
is  now  living;  the  last  is  still  before  it.  Through  all  of 
these  periods  two  facts  have  become  evident, — the  constant, 
unchanging  love  of  God,  the  constant  and  ever-increasing 
sin  of  man.  The  results  of  liberty— that  period  when  man 
was  left  to  work  out  to  their  proper  end  all  the  impulses  of 
his  natural  heart — were,  that  "  the  wickedness  of  man  was 
great  in  the  earth,  and  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts 
of  his  heart  only  evil  continually."  In  the  second  period 
we  may  discover  clearer  manifestations  of  love  in  the  Law 
of  God,  which,  being  a  revelation  of  His  own  nature  and 
will,  is  by  virtue  of  its  source  holy,  just,  and  perfect,  given 
to  a  chosen  people  for  a  special  purpose  of  good  to  them, 
and  through  them  to  all  people.  We  take  the  designs  of 
the  law  to  be, — first,  a  revelation  to  man  of  the  sin  of  his 
heart;  and  second,  a  disciplinary  process  by  which  men 
would  be  prepared  for  the  reception  and  appreciation  of 
the  infinite  love  of  God  in  His  Son.  In  the  third  period, 
called  by  Paul  "the  dispensation  of  the  Grace  of  God,"  we 
have  a  revelation  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  as  the  final 
result  of  the  great  redemptive  work  of  Christ, — the  remis- 
sion of  sin  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God, — the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  with  all  it  implies, — with  "life  and  immortal- 
ity made  manifest  by  the  appearing  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 


GOD'S  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  HIMSELF.  I5 

Christ."  The  fourth  and  future  period,  called  by  Paul 
"  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times,"  is  an  object  of 
lively  hope  and  earnest  expectation  to  all  who  look  for 
Christ's  appearing.  It  is  the  dispensation  to  which  all 
others  are  preparatory, — the  fulfilment  of  all  prophecy. 
It  will  be  the  time  of  "the  restitution  of  all  things,  of 
which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy 
prophets  since  the  world  began," — when  the  redemptive 
work  of  Christ  shall  have  extended  so  far  and  wide  "  that 
at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow  in  heaven, 
and  in  earth  and  under  the  earth,  and  every  tongue  should 
confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  God,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father."  The  "dispensations"  of  the  love  of  God,  which 
we  have  thus  briefly  indicated,  although  intimately  con- 
nected with  each  other,  and  incomplete  when  separated  and 
viewed  alone,  are  distinct  and  different  in  manifestation 
and  circumstances.  Having  one  main  purpose,  the  glory 
of  God,  united  with  the  welfare  of  His  creatures,  they  are 
various  developments  of  the  Divine  plan  forming  one 
harmonious  combination.  As  liberty  w^as  followed  by  law, 
and  law  in  turn  completed  and  fulfilled  by  grace,  so  will 
grace  be  swallowed  up  by  glory.  In  the  first,  God  selected 
a  man  and  his  family,  and  in  the  second  a  nation,  through 
whom  He  would  bless  the  race ;  so  in  the  third  has  He  a 
chosen  company,  standing  in  close  and  peculiar  relations  to 
Himself  through  Christ  the  Son,  upon  whom  and  through 
whom  He  will  display  the  infinite  riches  of  His  love,  who 
will  be  the  inheritors  of  all  he  hath  promised,  and  who  will 
in  a  wider  and  truer  sense  than  Israel  under  the  law  "  make 
known  to  the  sons  of  men  His  mighty  acts,  and  the  glorious 
majesty  of  His  kingdom." 

A  retrospect  of  God's  providential  dealings  with  man- 
kind as  a  race  since  the  creation  may  make  more  evident 


l(j  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

the  plan  which,  to  our  iniiid,  has  been  revealed  in  Scripture 
fur  the  restoration  of  His  flillen  creatures  to  })urity  and 
happiness  by  tiie  impartation  to  the  human  soul  of  God's 
own  life  and  holiness.  Adam,  as  he  came  from  the  hand 
of  his  Creator,  was  neither  a  holy  nor  a  sinful  man,  but 
was  simply  an  innocent  being.  Voluntarily  transgressing 
the  single  restriction  laid  upon  him,  he  departed  from  God, 
•thus  exchano-incy  for  himself  and  his  descendants  the  original 
estate  of  peace  and  enjoyment  for  one  of  pain  and  misery. 
The  knowledge  of  sin  came  by  the  breach  of  the  one  law, 
and  the  law  worked  out  its  own  result, — wrath.  Alan's 
deliverance  could  only  be  accomplished  by  the  power  against 
which  he  had  rebelled.  Scarcely  had  death — through  our 
mother  Eve — entered  into  the  world  than  the  promise  of 
life  through  her  seed  was  given,  and  the  means  of  restora- 
tion called  into  operation.  Scarcely  had  man  involved  him- 
self in  trouble  ere  the  anxious  cry  of  a  loving  parent  was 
heard  calling,  "Adam,  where  art  thou?"  A  God  of  love 
could  not  rescue  the  child  that  Satan  had  seduced  from 
loyalty  and  obedience,  for  justice  demanded  satisfaction  for 
the  broken  law.  Thus  early  in  the  history  of  man  ap- 
peared the  apparently  irreconcilable  conflict  between  love 
and  justice.  But  while  man  Avas  led  captive  by  Satan,  a 
ho])e  of  deliverance  was  imparted  by  the  promise  that 
"  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  serpent's  head,"  a 
foundation  was  laid  for  his  faith,  an  assurance  was  giv^en 
that  the  just  Avould  justify  tlie  ungodly.  The  germ  of  the 
I)lan  for  restoring  man  to  more  than  pristine  glory  was 
already  unfolding.  The  process  of  redemption  leading 
through  liberty,  law,  and  grace  to  glory  was  already  in 
course  of  development.  Man,  free  from  the  restraint  of 
any  law,  was  at  full  liberty  to  choose  his  own  course,  could 
come  back  to  God  or  depart  still  farther  from  Him.     Not 


GOD'S  MANIFESTATIONS   OF  HIMSELF.  17 

willingly,  it  may  be,  but  nevertheless  constantly  and  surely, 
he  was  becoming  enslaved  by  Satau  and  led  farther  from 
the  Source  of  life  and  light,  until  sin  had  well  nigh  obliter- 
ated all  traces  of  his  Divine  origin,  and  both  body  and  soul 
bore  the  deep  brands  of  his  captor.  After  the  catastrophe 
of  the  flood,  God  came  nearer  to  man,  in  the  selection  of 
Abraham  as  a  source  of  blessing  to  the  race,  and,  after  a 
trial  of  his  faith,  gave  the  more  specific  promise  that  in 
"his  seed  should  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed." 
Moses  records  God's  dealings  with  His  chosen  ])eople  in 
Deut.  xxxii.  9, 10:  "  For  the  Lord's  portion  is  His  people : 
Jacob  is  the  lot  of  His  inheritance.  He  found  him  in  the 
desert  land  and  in  the  waste  howling  wilderness;  He  led 
him  about.  He  instructed  him.  He  kept  him  as  the  apple  of 
His  eye."  From  among  the  idolatrous  nations  God  selected 
the  Hebrews  as  the  channel  through  which  He  would  mani- 
fest Himself  to  the  race,  with  the  design  of  establishing  a 
kingdom  of  righteousness  on  the  earth,  making  that  nation 
the  teacher  of  all  nations,  placing  it  as  a  city  on  a  hill  that 
cannot  be  hid.  He  made  known  His  glory  and  power  to 
them  in  a  peculiar  manner,  associated  His  own  life  with 
them,  gave  them  a  code  of  laws  perfectly  adapted  to  their 
circumstances, — obedience  to  which  would  result  in  their 
happiness, — placed  them  under  a  course  of  training  and 
discipline  by  which  they  might  be  fully  prepared  for  the 
more  complete  revelation  of  Himself  in  the  promised 
Messiah  and  an  active  participation  in  His  purpose  of  love 
to  all  the  earth.  The  more  God  did  for  them  as  a  nation 
the  more  hardened  and  rebellious  were  the  Jews,  until  by 
the  mouth  of  Isaiah  He  exclaims,  "  What  could  have  been 
done  more  to  my  vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  in  it? 
wherefore,  when  I  looked  that  it  should  bring  forth  grapes, 
brought  it  forth  wild  grapes  ?"     Notwithstanding  this  and 


13  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

otiier  expressions  of  the  apparent  failure  of  the  Jews  in  the 
fulfihnent  of  their  high  destiny,  the  declarations  of  the 
Jewish  prophets  confidently  point  to  a  time  in  the  future 
when  their  nation  will  be  missionaries  to  "the  isles  afar  off 
that  have  not  heard  my  fame  neither  have  seen  my  glory, 
and  they  shall  declare  my  glory  among  the  Gentiles." 
(Isa.  Ixvi.  19.)  The  ''great  day  of  the  Lord"  will  not 
<;ome  until  Elijah  has  prepared  the  way  and  the  heart  of 
the  people.  While  there  is  some  resemblance  between  the 
position  offered  to  the  Jews  and  that  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  there  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  boon  placed 
before  them  and  the  high  glory  reserved  for  the  Gospel 
Grace  Church  as  it  is  presented  in  Rev.  v.  10  and  xxi.  24. 

John  came  in  the  power  and  spirit  of  Elias  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  coming  of  Messiah,  but  his  testimony  was 
rejected,  and  he  was  cut  off.  The  Messiah,  long  promised 
and  hoped  for,  appeared,  was  rejected,  and  crucified  by 
"His  brethren  according  to  the  flesh."  The  stream  of 
blessing  which  would  have  followed  His  acceptance  by  His 
own  nation  was  diverted  from  its  proper  channel  and  was 
turned  upon  the  Gentiles;  the  way  was  opened  for  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  into  the  hearts  of  all  believers 
at  the  Pentecostal  season,  and  by  its  indwelling  in  human 
hearts  the  Redeemed  Church  was  established  on  the  earth. 

As  tlie  Gospel  of  Grace  was  not  manifested  until  after 
the  death  of  Christ,  His  mission  on  earth  was  preaching 
the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  an  earthly,  sancti- 
fied kingdom.  After  His  resurrection  the  Son  of  God  was 
never  seen  by  mortid  eyes  as  He  had  been  when  He  was  the 
Son  of  man.  He  spoke  only  to  His  own  disciples  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  that  was  to  come 
upon  them.  Matthew,  a  Jew  in  heart  and  feelings,  pre- 
sents Christ  as  tiie  Son  of  David  and  the  Son  of  man  who 


GOD'S  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  HIMSELF.  19 

would  deliver  Israel  from  the  Roman  bondage  and  make  it 
the  leading  nation  of  the  earth.  Although  a  believer  in 
Christ's  Divine  mission,  he  evidently  looked  for  its  fulfil- 
ment in  a  temporal  and  carnal  sense.  Mark,  the  faithful 
recorder,  presents  Christ  as  the  Son  of  man  and  the  friend 
of  humanity.  Luke,  the  learned  Gentile,  presents  Him  as 
the  Son  of  man  and  the  Son  of  God.  In  these  three  Gospels 
may  be  traced  the  gradual  transition  from  the  Jewish  to  the 
Gospel  Grace  system,  the  latter  still  retaining  many  of  the 
legal  characteristics  of  the  former,  from  which  it  was  so 
soon  to  be  separated.  As  Christ  came  to  the  lost  sheep  of 
the  house  of  Israel,  He  neither  preached  Himself  nor  sent 
His  disciples  to  preach  to  the  Samaritans  or  Gentiles. 
When  He  healed  He  made  no  attempt  to  proselyte,  but 
told  the  Jew  to  make  an  offering  according  to  the  law,  but 
the  Gentile  to  "  go  and  sin  no  more."  The  barriers  had 
not  yet  been  broken  down,  the  gate  had  not  yet  been  swung 
open. 

John,  who  seemed  by  nature  to  have  had  a  fuller  and 
more  complete  apprehension  of  Christ's  mission,  presents 
Him  as  the  Son  of  God.  John  was  pre-eminently  the 
Christian  evangelist.  In  his  Gospel  he  does  not  refer  to 
that  vision  of  the  latter-day  Jewish  glory — the  Transfig- 
uration— of  which  he  was  a  witness.  In  all  he  wrote, 
while  not  forgetting  that  he  was  a  Jew,  and  that  the  prom- 
ises were  the  inheritance  of  his  nation,  John  addresses  both 
saints  and  sinners,  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Passing  all  boun- 
daries in  his  Revelation, — the  history  of  time  and  eternity, 
— he  concentrates  the  life  and  essence  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  closing  with  the  prayer  of  the  universal  Church, 
"  Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus." 

The  object  of  the  present  essays  is  to  present  God  as  a 
Being  of  infinite  Justice  and  Love,  whose  heart  is  yearn- 


20  THIXGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

ing  for  tlie  happiness  of  His  creatures,  and  who  would  have 
all  men  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  but  without  the  least  infringement  on  their  moral 
free-agency  ;  to  attempt  to  make  evident  that,  moral  free- 
afjencv  beinji^  a  constituent  of  God's  own  character,  He  has 
granted  to  men  the  power  and  privilege  of  exercising  the 
same,  and  given  them  the  liberty  of  choosing  life  or  death ; 
that  salvation  is  from  God,  condemnation  from  ourselves, 
our  good  from  necessity,  our  evil  from  our  own  voluntary 
choice;  that  God's  plan  began  in  perfection,  and  will  end 
in  perfection  ;  that  God's  will  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is 
in  heaven  ;  that  the  prayer  of  the  Church,  as  expressed  in 
the  ninety-seventh  Psalm,  will  be  fulfilled,  and  it  can  be 
said  truly,  ^' The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth  rejoice,"  and 
the  saints  can  with  joy  "say  among  the  nations.  The  Lord 
reigneth." 

While  it  would  seem  impossible  to  have  a  conception  of 
an  all-wise  and  all-powerful  personal  Creator  and  God 
which  does  not  involve  the  possession  and  exercise  of  pi^e- 
destination  and  foreordination  absolutely  free  from  any  in- 
fluence or  restraint  beyond  God's  own  choice,  consistency 
with  the  law  of  His  own  Being,  and  the  revelation  He  has 
made  of  His  nature  and  purpose,  it  is  equally  important,  in 
our  conception,  that  we  should  as  firmly  settle  in  our  minds 
the  truth — as  fully  declared  in  Scripture,  and  just  as  im- 
portant in  its  bearing  on  human  faith  and  action — that  man, 
by  the  constitution  of  his  nature,  Avas  made,  and  continues 
to  be,  a  mom^/ree-cr^e?i^,  capable  of  making  in  all  things  an 
intelligent,  voluntary  choice,  and  of  experiencing  through- 
out his  whole  conscious  existence  the  good  or  evil  results 
consequent  upon  such  choice.  Destitute  of  the  divinely- 
given  power,  the  restoration  and  salvation  of  man  would 
reflect  no  glory  on  the  Infinite  love  of  God  ;  without  it,  the 


GOD'S  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  HIMSELF.  21 

conditions  of  man's  immortality  would  be  only  the  results 
of  an  external  constraining  influence  whicli  he  had  been 
powerless  to  resist. 

Our  conception  of  God,  of  His  character,  and  the  whole 
course  of  His  providential  dealings  with  men,  depends  in 
some  degree  upon  the  ideas  we  entertain  concerning  man  as 
a  sinful  being.  If  sin,  which  has  entered  into  and  so  fully 
possessed  the  race,  be  only  a  malady  like  a  bodily  disease 
caused  by  certain  fixed  conditions  for  the  resistance  and 
overcoming  of  which  there  are  lodged  within  our  human 
nature  germs  of  self-purification  and  correction,  by  whose 
development  the  cause  and  its  effects  may  be  removed,  the 
process  is  only  a  question  of  time  and  industry  on  our  part. 
As  in  the  case  of  bodily  disease  strict  attention  to  wise  and 
familiar  sanitary  laws  and  avoidance  of  that  which  causes 
or  aggravates  it  w^ill  in  time  sweep  the  disease  from  the 
earth,  so  may  faithful,  constant  observance  of  moral  law 
relieve  us  from  the  malady  of  sin.  If  any  such  idea  holds 
sway  in  the  mind,  there  can  be  seen  no  absolute  necessity  of 
a  Plan  of  Salvation  involving  a  long  process  of  preparation 
on  the  Divine  part,  an  incarnation  of  God,  a  Divine-human 
life  and  death  of  suffering,  a  constant,  ever-present  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  restoration  of  man  to  purity  and 
holiness.  Just  in  proportion  as  we  have  a  true  idea  of  the 
"exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,"  of  its  inborn  and  all-pervad- 
ing power  and  awful  results,  of  the  immeasurable  distance 
to  which  it  removes  the  soul  from  its  Divine  source  of  life 
and  love,  so  do  we  have  the  more  exalted  views  of  the  in- 
finite love  and  wisdom  of  the  Father  as  manifested  in  His 
efforts  to  restore  man  to  purity  and  happiness  by  a  [)rocess 
attended  with  the  highest  glory  to  Himself  and  most  per- 
fect satisfaction  to  man, — a  plan  which,  while  fully  satisfy- 
ing the  attribute  of  justice,  comes  into  full  accord  with  the 


22  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

deepest  wants  and  feelings  of  the  human  soul.  A  salvation 
from  sin  is  manifested  to  man,  wherein,  by  the  reception  of 
a  Divine  principle,  he  will  be  guided  by  truth  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, and  yet  be  in  possession  of  perfect  liberty,  in 
which  his  power  of  free  choice  will  not  be  infringed  on  or 
a  particle  of  his  individuality  be  destroyed,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  will  be  led  in  a  path  that  will  yield  to  him 
tbe  highest  and  purest  satisfaction  of  which  his  nature  may 
be  capable. 


THE  GOSPEL  NOT  TO  CONVERT  THE  WORLD. 

The  phrase  "kingdom  of  God''  occurs  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament seventy  times;  "  kingdom  of  heaven/'  twenty  times. 
There  are  besides  about  thirty  references  to  either.  In  many 
places  where  the  phrase  is  used  by  Christ  or  the  Apostles  it 
is  in  connection  with  or  a  synonym  of  the  "Gospel"  or 
"  glad  tidings."  This  is  specially  marked  in  the  passage 
from  Isaiah  read  by  Christ  in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth, 
and  made  the  basis  of  His  declaration,  "  This  day  is  this 
scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears."  Matthew  records  the  fact 
that  Jesus  went  about  all  Galilee  "  preaching  the  gospel  of 
the  kingdom."  Mark,  in  still  clearer  terms,  Avrites  of 
Christ  "  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,"  quoting  his 
words,  "  The  time  is  fulfilled  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at 
hand ;  repent  ye  and  believe  the  gospeV^  The  proclamation 
to  be  made  by  the  twelve  was  simply,  "  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand ;"  the  seventy  were  instructed  to  say, 
"  The  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you."  To  Nico- 
demus  "  the  kingdom  of  God"  was  presented  as  a  state  into 
which  he  might  enter  on  certain  conditions.  It  formed  the 
theme  of  many  of  the  discourses  of  our  Lord,  was  illus- 
trated by  many  parables,  and  was  an  object  of  indefinite 
desire  and  hope  to  those  whose  minds  were  at  all  influenced 
by  the  Divine  teachings.  Christ  and  the  disciples  after  the 
resurrection  talked  of  "things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom 
of  God."  That  the  disciples  did  not  clearly  comprehend 
the  nature  and  object  of  the  "  kingdom"  is  evident  from 
their  last  recorded  question  before  the  Master  ascended, 

23 


24  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

^^Wilt  Thou  at  this  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  of 
Israel?" 

In  the  ordinary  Jewish  mind  tlie  advent  of  the  "  king- 
dom," as  spoken  of  by  Christ,  called  up  the  long-cherished 
ideas,  gathered  from  the  inspired  utterances  of  the  Prophets 
and  the  traditions  intertwined  with  the  predictions,  that 
Messiah  would  insure  the  triumph  of  Israel  over  all  his 
^emies,  would  re-establish  the  throne  of  David  and  make 
Jerusalem  the  metropolis  of  the  nations;  that  the  approach 
of  the  Messianic  period  would  be  marked  by  some  miracu- 
lous phenomenon  similar  to  that  at  Mount  Sinai;  that  peace 
would  reign  over  all  the  earth,  and  the  name  of  Jehovah 
be  universally  adored.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  dif- 
ference of  interpretation  of  the  Messianic  predictions  among 
the  Jews, — whether  they  were  to  be  fulfilled  by  one  person 
of  the  House  of  David,  a  King,  Deliverer,  and  Pro})het,  or 
by  the  children  of  Israel  as  a  race, — it  was  the  inwrought 
and  immovable  conviction  of  the  national  mind  that  an 
"everlasting  dominion,"  an  "  everlasting  kingdom,"  would 
be  "  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High," 
an  honor  and  glory  of  which  all  of  the  ancient  chosen 
people  would  be  partakers.  It  is  not  strange  that  these 
high  aspirations  should  almost  exclude  an  equally  impor- 
tant part  of  the  same  predictions, — the  humiliation  and 
suffering  which  were  to  precede  the  glory  and  majesty. 
Cherishing  most  deeply  the  temporal  and  material  ideas 
involving  the  triumph  and  exaltation  of  their  nation,  pre- 
vented by  the  fatness  of  heart,  blindness  of  eyes,  and  deaf- 
ness of  ears,  predicted  by  Isaiah,  from  any  spiritual  ap- 
preciation of  the  Divine  salvation  placed  within  their  reach, 
the  Jews  failed  to  recognize  the  Founder  of  the  "  kingdom" 
in  Him  who  "had  no  form  nor  comeliness,"  who  was 
"  despised  and  rejected,  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 


THE   GOSPEL    NOT  TO   CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     25 

witli  grief,"  "oppressed  and  afflicted/'  "taken  from  prison 
and  jndgment,  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  cut  oif 
out  of  the  land  of  the  living,"  and  having  "  His  grave  with 
the  wicked."  We  may,  perhaps,  in  reading  the  Messianic 
prophecies  in  the  light  of  history,  wonder  how  it  was  possi- 
ble that  the  Jews,  Avith  the  Books  of  the  Prophets  in  their 
hands  and  read  daily  in  their  synagogues,  should  have  failed 
to  see  in  the  Avords  and  the  life  of  Christ  a  literal  fulfil-* 
ment  of  those  predictions  on  which  their  hopes  were  based 
and  which  had  sustained  their  faith  during  long  periods  of 
captivity,  and  yet  is  it  not  possible,  we  might  go  further 
and  ask,  Is  it  not  pj^obable,  that  Christendom  of  this  age 
entertains  ideas  of  the  origin,  nature,  and  object  of  the 
"  kingdom"  as  far  removed  from  the  reality  as  those  held 
by  the  Jews  who  listened  to  the  gracious  words  of  the 
Master  ? 

It  will  scarcely  be  denied  that  the  general  expectation  of 
Christians  of  the  present  age  is  that  a  wide  diffusion  of  the 
gospel  by  the  preaching  of  the  word,  by  the  efforts  of  mis- 
sionaries, by  the  distribution  of  tracts  and  Bibles,  and  by 
the  operations  of  those  human  agencies  of  aggression  on 
the  domains  of  Satan  which  have  been  multiplied  during 
this  century,  will  insure  a  visible  triumph  of  pure  religion, 
and  that  now,  without  any  new  or  serious  pause,  truth  and 
piety  shall  steadily  advance,  shall  conquer  larger  and  still 
larger  portions  of  the  human  race,  "  until  all  the  earth  is 
filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord."  It  is  fondly  be- 
lieved that  all  forms  of  civil  and  religious  despotism,  all 
gigantic  political  and  ecclesiastical  corruptions,  will  surely, 
though  gradually,  be  disintegrated  and  swept  from  the 
earth  by  the  prevalence  and  potency  of  the  principles  taught 
by  Christ;  that  righteousness  and  truth  universally  prevail- 
ing will  usher  in  the  long-predicted  and  hoped-for  "  king- 


26  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

dom  of  God;"  that  the  petition,  "Thy  will  be  done  on 
eaiih  as  it  is  in  heaven,"  will  soon  be  literally  and  abun- 
dantly fulfilled.  AVhile  believing  firmly  that  God's  purpose 
of  mercy  to  the  race  will  surely  be  accomplished,  we  must 
say  frankly  that  we  do  not  share  in  the  bright  hopes  which 
seem  to  be  cherished  by  the  Church.  We  cannot  accept  the 
prevalent  idea,  or  see  that  its  truth  can  be  sustained  either 
by  Scripture  or  the  facts  of  history. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  essay  to  make  evident,  1st,  nega- 
tively, that  the  primary  design  of  the  "kingdom"  or  Gos- 
pel of  Grace,  as  introduced  into  the  world  by  the  teachings 
of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  was  not  the  conversion  of  the 
icorkl ;  that  the  world  from  the  period  immediately  succeed- 
ino;  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord  has  not  advanced  in  true 
knowledge  of  God,  or  made  substantial  increase  in  spiritual 
holiness ;  that  there  will  be  no  general  progress  in  true  holi- 
ness during  the  continuance  of  the  present  Grace  Dispen- 
sation on  the  earth.  2d,  positively,  that  the  Gospel  of 
Grace  is  a  xcitness  to  be  preached  in  all  the  world  to  all 
people,  to  call  out  from  the  world  all  those  who  will  believe 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  that  the  world,  as  distinguished 
from  God's  people,  is  constantly  developing  increasing  dis- 
loyalty to  God,  and  will  continue  in  the  same  course  until 
the  close  of  the  Grace  Dispensation ;  that  at  the  future 
period  of  time  when  God's  purpose  of  love  to  His  people 
shall  have  been  completed,  the  Church,  composed  of  all  those 
who  by  faith  have  been  made  one  with  the  Lord  Jesus, 
will  be  withdrawn  from  the  world  and  taken  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  its  Lord  in  heaven  ;  that  God,  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ,  will  then,  by  power  and  judgment,  not  by 
the  Gospel  of  Grace,  begin  to  subdue  the  world  to  Him- 
self, and  Christ  will  receive  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of 
''  the  heathen  for  an  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts  of 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO    CONVERT   THE    WORLD.     27 

the  earth  for  a  possession ;''  and  that  by  the  coming  of 
Christ  with  His  saints  the  Millennium  will  be  ushered  in. 

I  have  endeavored  to  state  these  propositions  so  broadly 
and  fully  that  they  may  not  be  misapprehended.  While 
this  truth  may,  as  many  other  deep  truths  of  Revelation, 
be  involved  in  some  obscurity,  and  some  difficulties  may 
seem  to  cluster  about  it,  yet  it  may  claim  acceptance  not 
only  because  it  has  a  substantial  scriptural  basis,  but  for 
the  reason  that  the  experience  of  the  Church  and  the  world 
for  nearly  two  thousand  years  gives  positive  testimony  in 
its  favor.  Well  aware  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  doctrine  di- 
rectly opposed  to  the  cherished  hopes  of  the  large  majority 
of  Christians,  and  that  its  prevalence  would  result  in  an 
entire  change  in  the  present  mode  of  Christian  activity,  I 
w^ould  hesitate  to  advance  it  were  I  not  so  fully  convinced 
in  my  own  mind  that  it  is  deeply  imbedded  in  Revelation 
and  is  one  of  the  hidden  treasures  of  God's  word  that  will 
in  its  proper  time  shine  out  clearly. 

The  general  purpose  of  God  in  the  earthly  mission  of 
Christ  was  the  conquering  of  death,  the  destruction  of  the 
works  of  the  devil,  and  by  one  offering  to  forever  perfect 
them  that  are  sanctified.  One  special  purpose  was  "to 
take  out  from  the  Gentiles  a  people  for  His  name"  (Acts 
XV.  14-19),  an  elect  Church,  foreordained  before  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world, — a  selected  people,  "  called,  chosen,  and 
faithful,''  through  and  by  whom  He  would  manifest  His 
final  glory.  All  who  compose  this  elect  Church  were 
"  chosen  in  Him,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that 
they  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before  Him  in  love," 
"  predestinated  unto  the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  Himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  His 
will."  (Eph.  i.  4.)  "  His  workmanship,  created  in  Christ 
Jesus  unto  good  works"  (Eph.  ii.  10),  "  saved  and  called 


28  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to  works,  but  according 
to  His  purpose  and  grace  given  in  Christ  Jesus,  before  the 
world  began/'  (2  Tim.  i.  9.) 

Christ  declares  it  is  the  Father's  will  that  ^'  of  all  which 
He  hath  given  me,  He  should  lose  nothing,  but  raise  it  up 
at  the  last  day"  (John  vi.  39) ;  and  again  says  positively, 
"  All  that  the  Father  giveth  me,  shall  come  to  me."  These 
•re  but  a  few  of  the  many  passages  which  plainly  declare 
God's  purpose  to  form  for  Himself  a  Church, — the  "  one 
Body,"  composed  of  all  who  should  be  "  heirs  of  God,  and 
joint-heirs  with  Christ,"  of  whom  (/hrist  Himself,  risen 
and  glorified,  would  be  the  Head.  To  this  chosen  company 
God  in  a  measure  intrusts  His  glory.  To  them  in  a  pecu- 
liar manner  He  reveals  His  will.  To  them  He  grants  His 
Spirit  to  lead  them  into  all  truth.  On  earth  they  are  to 
be  "a  city  set  upon  a  hill"  that  cannot  be  hid — a  "  light 
of  the  world" — the  faithful  shining  representatives  and 
witnesses,  showing  forth  the  praises  of  their  absent  Lord, 
who  has  gone  to  prepare  a  place  for  them,  who  will  return 
and  take  them  to  Himself.  On  the  earth  they  are  educated 
and  prepared  by  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  high  destiny 
awaiting  them  when,  clothed  in  glorified  spiritual  bodies, 
they  shall  sit  with  Christ  on  the  Throne  judging  the  nations 
of  the  earth. 

The  Gospel  of  Grace  is  to  call  out  from  the  world  all 
who  will  come,  all  who  will  accept  Christ,  and  those  who 
by  coming  and  accepting  make  evident  that  they  are  part 
of  that  chosen  company  through  whom  the  Father  will 
manifest  His  love  and  mercy,  and  upon  whom  He  will  con- 
fer the  high  glories  of  His  everlasting  kingdom.  The  Dis- 
pensation of  Grace,  perfected  in  the  Eternal  Mind  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  but  revealed  on  the  earth  and 
made  potential  for  mankind  by  the  Incarnation  of  the  Lord, 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO   CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     29 

is  an  indej3endent  system,  complete  in  itself,  and  while  in 
harmony  with,  and  in  one  sense  developed  from,  all  that 
had  preceded,  it  has  a  distinct  and  definite  purpose.  Al- 
though complete  and  perfect  in  itself,  the  Gospel  of  Grace 
must  be  considered  as  a  parenthesis  between  the  apparent 
failure  of  the  first  earthly  material  dispensation  and  that 
"  latter-day"  judicial  dispensation  which  was  the  burden  of 
the  ancient  prophecies,  and  which  will  be  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  glory  of  God  on  the  earth.  Rising,  it  may  be,  in 
the  material  economy,  its  course  is  like  that  of  a  rapid  river, 
passing  through  the  stagnant  waters  of  a  morass  without 
mino-linff,  JBowino;  on  throusfh  its  destined  channel.  Beino; 
a  manifestation  of  a  reconciled  God  to  a  rebel  world,  it 
gives  to  all,  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  tlie  invitation  to  come, 
— let  him  that  will,  come  and  drink  of  the  waters  of  life 
freely ;  but  as  only  those  who  realize  their  need  of  life  will 
come,  it  can  scarcely  be  claimed  that  its  purpose  is  the 
arbitrary  conversion  of  the  world.  As  the  magnet  passing 
over  a  mingled  mass  of  iron  and  sand  surely  attracts  to 
itself  all  the  particles  of  metal,  so  the  Gospel  of  Grace 
passing  through  the  world  draws  and  holds  to  itself  all. 
those  who  will  be  sharers  wdth  Christ  in  His  final  glory. . 
Its  purpose  and  intent  are  revealed  by  Christ  and  the 
Apostles,  its  means  are  fixed  and  definite,  and,  being  ener- 
gized by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  there  is  no  place 
for  contingencies,  nothing  can  prevent  its  consummation. 
The  proclamation  of  reconciliation  "  that  all  things  are 
ready,"  that  there  is  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any  soul,  is 
to  be  made  to  all  creatures.  If  any  have  no  desire  to  come, 
or  if  any  by  a  perverted  will  transform  light  into  dark- 
ness, and  choose  death  rather  than  life,  tlie  responsibility 
for  the  result  must  rest  on  the  creature,  not  on  the  Creator. 
The  development  and  progress  of  the  Grace  system  are 

3 


oQ  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

above  and  beyond  any  dependence  on  liuman  wisdom  or 
pliiloso^^hy,  for  it  is  the  peculiar  province  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  bring  under  its  power  every  redeemed  soul. 
Human  effort  cannot  add  one  to  the  number,  neither  can 
all  the  powers  of  hell  pluck  one  from  the  Shepherd's  hand. 

The  Gospel  of  Grace  is  the  Life  and  Righteousness  of 
God  manifested  or  proposed,  but  not  offered  (for  an  offer 
,  would  involve  conditions),  through  Jesus  Christ,  to  all  the 
fallen  children  of  Adam  who  realize  need  of  deliverance 
from  spiritual  death.  It  neither  implores  nor  solicits  ac- 
ceptance of  the  provided  Salvation.  If  a  soul  chooses  to 
remain  in  death,  the  act  is  one  of  free  choice.  The  Salva- 
tion manifested  is  worthy  of  reception,  not  only  from  the 
infinite  character  of  its  Author,  but  from  its  intrinsic 
worth  and  value  and  its  j)erfect  adaptation  to  the  eternal 
welfare  of  the  soul.  By  its  acceptance  only  can  the  soul 
come  into  accord  with  the  source  of  its  own  true  life  and 
become  a  partaker  of  the  life,  love,  and  holiness  of  God. 
Pure  acceptance  of  so  rich  a  blessing  can  only  result  from 
willing  choice  by  the  exercise  of  that  free-agency  with 
which  the  Creator  has  endowed  every  reasonable  creature. 
The  slightest  command  or  threat,  the  least  constraint  of 
legality,  would  be  a  stain  on  the  character  of  the  Giver. 
The  whole  spirit  of  the  Gospel  of  Grace  is  concentrated  in 
its  only  solicitation,  "Come  unto  me  that  ye  may  have 
life.'' 

The  selection  by  God  of  a  portion  of  the  human  race, 
and  the  formation  of  a  Church  in  the  world  by  the  Gospel 
of  Grace,  are  in  harmony  with  His  recorded  dealings  Avith 
the  Hebrew  nation.  When  Moses  called  all  Israel  together 
in  Horeb  and  repeated  to  them  the  Law,  he  declared  God's 
choice  of  them  in  the  clearest  and  most  emphatic  manner : 
"  For  thou  art  an  holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God ; 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO   CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     31 

the  Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen  thee  to  be  a  special  people 
unto  Himself,  above  all  people  that  are  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth.  The  Lord  did  not  set  His  love  upon  yon,  nor 
choose  you,  becanse  ye  were  more  in  number  than  any 
people, — for  ye  were  the  fewest  of  people, — but  because 
the  Lord  loved  you,  and  because  He  would  keep  the  oath 
which  He  had  sworn  unto  your  fathers,  hath  the  Lord 
brought  you  out  with  a  mighty  hand/^  (Dent.  vii.  6-8.) 
They  were  to  be  a  "  special  people"  unto  the  Lord  for 
purposes  plainly  declared  to  them  by  Moses  during  their 
journey,  and  subsequently  affirmed  by  the  holy  men  and 
prophets  of  the  nation.  They  were  to  be  teachers  of  the 
Divine  unity,  the  declarers  of  the  great  truth  of  Mono- 
theism among  idolatrous  nations.  In  the  w^ords  of  Isaiah 
(xliv.  8),  "Ye  are  even  my  witnesses."  They  were  to 
"  make  known  to  the  sons  of  men  His  mighty  acts  and 
the  glorious  majesty  of  His  kingdom"  (Ps.  cxlv.  10-12); 
they  were  to  be  the  channel  through  which  mercy  should 
be  conveyed  to  all  nations.  (Gen.  xxvi.  3,  4 ;  xlix.  10 ;  Isa. 
xiix.  6.)  While  many  other  purposes  are  revealed,  not 
only  by  prediction  but  by  the  facts  of  Jewish  history,  the 
most  remarkable  statement  concerning  the  "  special  people" 
is  connected  with  their  "  final  restoration."  The  apj)lication 
is  the  same  regardless  of  any  peculiar  interpretation  that 
may  be  attached  to  the  words.  Without  throwing  any 
clear  light  on  the  future  mysterious  mission  of  the  Hebrew 
nation,  the  prophet  Ezekiel  in  the  words,  ^^  Not  for  your 
sakes  do  I  this,  saith  the  Lord  God,  be  it  known  unto 
you ;  be  ashamed  and  confounded  for  your  own  ways,  0 
House  of  Israel"  (chap,  xxxvi.  32),  reveals,  yet  carefully 
conceals,  the  fact  that  God's  dealings  with  the  ancient 
people  had  a  higher  and  more  glorious  purpose  than  their 
individual  happiness,  national  glory,  or  final  salvation, — 


32  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

a  purpose  of  good  to  them  having  at  the  same  time  an 
intimate  relation  to  God's  glory. 

In  many  points  the  closest  analogy  and  most  perfect 
correspondence  may  be  traced  between  the  choice  of  the 
"  special  people"  of  the  old  dispensation  and  the  Church 
of  the  new ;  while  in  other  points  it  fails  to  hold.  The 
choice  of  either  was  simply  the  exercise  of  Divine  Sover- 
*eignty ;  the  objects  chosen  were  the  subjects  of  peculiar 
love  and  solicitude:  all  that  was  essential  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  chosen  came  to 
them  directly  from  God,  frequently  in  a  manner  that  might 
be  regarded  as  supernatural.  The  high  destiny  to  which 
both  were  called  was  active  service  for  God  and  the  mani- 
festation of  His  glory  and  honor.  In  either  the  choice 
is  limitedj — one  by  birth,  the  other  by  sovereign  pleasure. 
In  either  it  is  absolute, — in  one  case  as  a  nation,  in  the 
other  as  the  individual.  Up  to  a  certain  point  the  Jewish 
nation,  despite  its  rebellion,  folly,  and  sin,  perfectly  fulfilled 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  chosen.  The  ancient  people 
were  the  rulers  and  teachers  of  the  nations,  they  were  the 
depository  of  Divine  truth,  they  were  the  source  from 
which  salvation  for  the  Gentiles  came  through  the  Person 
of  Jesus  Christ.  But  still,  as  a  nation,  they  have  thrown 
away  their  birthright  by  refusing  to  recognize  their  predicted 
Messiah;  turning  away  from  their  traditional  idea  and 
hope,  they  failed  to  take  that  high  position  for  which 
centuries  of  discipline  and  training  under  God's  Provi- 
dence had  been  designed  to  prepare  them.  Their  glory 
has  for  a  time  been  transferred  to  others,  but  the  day  of 
ingathering  and  rejoicing,  when  the  Jews  shall  be  hailed 
as  messengers  of  light  to  the  nations  of  the  earth,  will 
surely  come. 

There  are  now,  and  have  been  in  the  world  ever  since 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO   CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     33 

the  earliest  days  of  the  Christian  era,  two  Messianic  mis- 
sions based  upon  the  same  revelations  of  Divine  truth, 
claiming  as  their  own  the  same  prophetic  utterances, 
cherishing  hopes  of  the  same  ultimate  glory.  The  Supreme 
law — the  strength  and  hope  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  the 
unalterable  faith  of  Israel,  the  basis  of  its  social  and 
religious  existence — is  the  absolute  unity  and  invisibility 
of  God.  They  have  lived  for  it  and  by  it;  for  this  they 
have  never  ceased  to  struggle  and  suffer.  Accepting  with 
an  approving  mind  and  a  loving  heart  the  fact  that  the 
saving  Messiah  became  a  Divine  Incarnation,  the  God 
who  assumed  the  form  and  lived  the  life  of  men,  all 
Christians  believe  and  assert  tliat  the  Messianic  prophecies 
were  accomplished  by  the  birth,  life,  death,  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ.  Claiming  as  their  own,  in  the  most 
definite  and  exclusive  sense,  the  bulk  of  the  prophecies 
of  the  Old  Testament, — a  heritage  the  right  to  which 
the  most  rigorous  biblical  criticism  rather  confirms  than 
weakens, — the  Jews  are  waiting  with  imperturbable  pa- 
tience the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine  promises.  They  are 
hoping  for  the  day  when  the  universal  proclamation  of 
peace  and  good-will  will  re-establish  the  fraternity  of  all 
nations  and  the  reign  of  God  be  inaugurated  on  the  earth. 
Their  theory  will  not  admit  the  "advent  of  Messiah  until 
universal  peace  shall  be  coincident  with  His  era,  and  until 
those  laws  of  justice  and  love  shall  prevail  which  are  de- 
clared to  be  the  providential  signs  of  the  lledeemer  of 
mankind."  From  the  more  remote  period  of  its  historical 
existence  the  aspirations  of  Judaism  have  not  been  limited 
to  the  developmentof  its  internal  and  individual  life.  Among 
the  most  profound  thinkers  and  writers  of  the  Jews  in 
later  centuries,  we  frequently  meet  the  idea  that  the  whole 
world  is  to  be  their  domain  and  future  empire, — not,  per- 


34  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

haps,  SO  much  under  a  material  but  a  moral  sway.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  this  long  and  firmJy  cherished  hope  has  left 
a  deep  impress  on  all  the  principle  and  all  the  events  of 
their  history. 

Having  in  another  essay  enlarged  more  fully  on  the  great 
difference  in  spirit  and  result  between  the  Legal  and  Grace 
Dispensations,  we  have  touched  on  the  two  Messianic  the- 
*ories  in  the  hope  of  bringing  out  more  clearly  the  facts 
that  in  the  future  development  of  truth  on  the  earth  and 
the  prevalence  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  the  Jews,  as  the 
"chosen  people,"  are  destined  to  take  an  important  part,  and 
that  the  mission  they  are  to  perform  has  been  regarded  by 
Christendom  too  exclusively  as  the  portion  of  those  who  are 
called  by  the  Gospel  of  Grace.  While  the  Christian  Church 
has  properly  appropriated  to  herself  all  the  Messianic 
prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  she  has  also  strangely 
and  without  reason  taken  possession  of  truths  and  declara- 
tions to  which  she  has  no  just  claim  and  which  were  not 
intended  for  her.  By  a  spiritualizing  of  certain  textual 
expressions,  and,  indeed,  of  whole  passages,  in  the  books 
of  the  Prophets,  exclusively  addressed  to  and  intended  for 
the  Jews,  the  primary  meaning  is  utterly  destroyed  and  a 
mode  of  interpretation  introduced  which  is  confusing  and 
misleading  to  all  but  those  who  study  the  Bible  critically. 
Take  as  an  illustration  such  phrases  as  "  Israel,"  "  the 
House  of  Jacob,"  "  the  cities  of  Judah,"  "  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem,"  very  frequently  recurring  in  Isaiah  and  Jere- 
miah, and  almost  without  exception  bearing  a  strictly  literal 
meaning.  In  the  ordinary  usage  among  the  churches  these 
expressions  are  symbolically  given  to  the  elect  Church  and 
the  Heavenly  Jerusalem.  The  "  Throne  of  David"  is  used 
as  synonymous  with  the  "kingdom  of  Christ."  The  pas- 
sage in  the  first  part  of  the  second  chapter  of  Isaiah  and  the 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO    CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     35 

greater  part  of  the  thirty-third  chapter  of  Jeremiali, — 
passages  which  biblical  critics  agree  have  direct  and  special 
application  to  the  Restoration  of  the  Jews, — explained  in 
this  symbolizing  method,  are  accepted  as  references  to  the 
Christian  Church,  and  believed  to  be  predictions  of  the 
triumph  of  the  Gospel  of  Grace.  The  fact  is,  we  cannot 
find  in  the  Prophets  any  predictions  concerning  the  dispen- 
sation under  which  the  Church  is  now  living,  this  period  of 
delay  in  the  visible  exaltation  of  the  Messiah.  There  is  no 
hint  of  a,  to  us,  long  lapse  of  time  intervening  between  the 
humiliation  and  the  exaltation  of  the  ^^  Branch  of  Ritrhteous- 
ness."  His  appearance  is  to  be  immediately  followed  by 
"  righteousness  and  judgment  in  the  land."  The  primi- 
tive Christians,  finding  nothing  in  the  old  Scriptures  con- 
trary to  their  hopes,  waited  with  patient  eagerness  for  the 
reappearing  of  Him  whom  they  had  seen  taken  up  in  the 
clouds.  It  seems  to  be  a  strange  perversion  of  language  to 
apply  that  which  Isaiah  expressly  says  is  written  "  concern- 
ing Jicclah  and  Jerusalem^^  to  the  Christian  Church  of  the 
present  parenthetical  dispensation.  The  little  practical 
benefit  that  may  possibly  be  derived  from  these  erroneous 
interpretations  is  gained  only  at  the  expense  of  the  definite 
truth  which  forms  so  large  a  part  of  the  prophecies.  Let 
all  the  passages  of  the  described  import  in  the  prophetic 
writings  be  shorn  of  that  mystical,  spiritualistic  meaning 
which  has  been  thrust  upon  them,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
the  prophets  give  us  no  substantial  basis  on  which  to  rest  a 
hope  that  this  world  is  to  be  converted  to  God  by  the  pres- 
ent Gospel  of  Grace.  It  will,  of  course,  be  understood  that 
I  speak  only  of  the  statements  concerning  the  Jewish  na- 
tion, its  restoration  and  future  mission.  The  predictions 
referring  to  the  person  and  Avork  of  the  Messiah,  the  proc- 
lamation of  salvation  to  the  Gentiles,  are  of  an  altogether 


36  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

different  character,  and  their  partial  fulfihnent  serves  as  a 
guide  to  tlie  j^roper  interpretation  of  those  yet  unfulfilled. 
These  are  so  full,  so  free,  and  so  rich,  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  may  find  entire  satisfaction  in  them  Avithout  the 
wrongful  appropriation  of  the  large  portion  of  Scripture 
that  is  the  heritage  of  the  Jew. 

I  have  claimed  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  between 
the  time  of  the  Ascension  of  Christ  and  His  next  appearing 
in  the  world  was  not  designed  to  convert  the  world  to  right- 
eousness, or  to  result  in  that  period  of  comparatively  blessed 
holiness  which  has  been  so  abundantly  predicted  and  for 
the  advent  of  which  all  Christians  so  ardently  hope.  Of 
the  ultimate  prevalence  of  righteousness  to  be  enjoyed  on 
the  earth  under  the  reign  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  unless  the  Bible  be  resolved  into  a  collec- 
tion of  myths.  But  of  the  means  by  which  this  result 
shall  be  accomplished  or  of  the  time  when  it  shall  be  fully 
manifested  there  have  always  been  widely  divergent  beliefs 
taking  practical  form  in  correspondingly  divergent  courses. 
It  is  patent  that  the  belief  on  this  vital  point — the  design 
of  the  Gospel  of  Grace  as  it  is  to  be  gathered  from  Scrip- 
ture and  as  it  may  appear  from  a  consideration  of  Divine 
Providence — is  one  that  will  powerfully  aifect  and  influence 
both  the  interior  Christian  life  and  its  development  in  out- 
ward activity.  Whether  our  impulses,  thoughts,  aspira- 
tions, and  efforts  are  to  flow  in  harmony  with  the  Divine 
purpose  and  thus  yield  the  full  measure  of  satisfaction 
and  success,  or  whether  our  whole  Christian  course  shall 
be  one  of  discord  with  inexorable  law,  depends  upon  the 
correct  apprehension  of  revealed  truth. 

On  this,  as  on  many  other  points  of  Christian  doctrine, 
the  negative  argument  presses  with  great  power.  Among 
the  many  motives  for  perseverance  in  labor  and  encourage- 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO   CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     37 

ment  to  steadfastness  in  duty  given  to  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians by  the  Apostles,  we  fail  to  find  any  assurance  that  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  would  convert  the  world  to  the 
service  of  the  Master  whom  they  loved  and  served.  The 
obstacles  they  should  meet,  tlie  persecution  they  must  en- 
counter, the  sufferings  and  martyrdom  they  should  endure, 
were  plainly  foretold,  but  the  ultimate  success  of  that  Gos- 
pel to  which  their  labors  and  lives  were  devoted  was  no- 
where assured  either  by  Christ  or  the  Apostles.  In  the 
New  Testament  no  promise  of  success  was  granted  to  be- 
lievers corresponding  in  any  degree  with  that  given  by  the 
Lord  to  the  Israelites  when  leaving  Egypt,  that  they  should 
enter  upon  and  possess  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, 
the  doubting  of  which  caused  the  death  of  a  generation  or 
the  postponement  of  the  fruition  of  the  promise  until  the 
sceptics  had  passed  away.  We  cannot  find  any  such  promise 
of  the  success  of  the  Gospel  in  the  Old  Testament,  for  that 
belongs  to  the  Jews.  Excepting  where  its  teachings  are 
connected  with  morality,  and  by  reason  of  a  common  ori- 
gin aj)ply  to  all  mankind,  the  revealed  truths  belong  in  a 
special  manner  to  the  Jews,  and  are  inseparably  joined  with 
the  ceremonial  system  of  which  they  formed  a  part.  This 
system  was  not  universal  or  general,  but  national  and  pecu- 
liar. Gentiles  as  nations  had  no  part  in  these  truths.  Indi- 
vidually, any  benefit  or  virtue  to  be  derived  from  them  was 
preceded  by  acceptance  of  rites  which  marked  the  believer 
as  a  Jew  and  separated  him  from  his  former  kindred.  But 
the  Gospel  of  Grace  is  a  new  dispensation  having  a  design 
and  purpose  altogether  different  from  that  of  law, — a  new 
revelation  of  God  to  mankind,  a  manifestation  of  the  infi- 
nite love  of  God  under  dissimilar  conditions  having  refer- 
ence to  the  future  glory  of  God,  pointing  to  a  culmination 
above  and  beyond  earth  and  time,  spiritual  and  eternal  in 


38  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

nature,  working  out  a  Divine  plan  of  which  no  intimations 
had  been  given  in  the  prophecies  of  a  nation,  and  follow- 
ing a  course  indicated  by  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
only  when  the  old  JNIosaic  Law,  local,  material,  and  tem- 
poral in  character,  intended  for  and  adapted  to  one  peculiar 
nation,  had  been  rendered  nugatory  and  vain  and  its  effi- 
cacy destroyed  by  the  fulfilment  of  the  purpose  for  which 
ifrhad  existed.  When  Christ  came — the  event  to  which  all 
the  sacrifices,  ceremonies,  and  ritual  of  the  Mosaic  economy 
pointed  forward — the  virtue  of  the  Law  departed,  or  rather 
the  grace  of  which  it  had  hitherto  been  the  channel  gather- 
ered  itself  in  its  source  and  culmination,  the  man  Christ 
Jesus. 

Kejected  by  the  Jews  as  a  nation,  refused  by  those  whose 
whole  training  would  seem  to  have  prepared  them  for  the 
reception  and  enjoyment  of  so  great  a  blessing,  Grace,  in 
the  person  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  was  manifested  to  the 
Gentiles.  Then  began  the  Gospel  of  Grace,  that  new  pro- 
cess of  Divine  Love  of  which  w^e  find  no  indications  in 
Jewish  prophecy  ;  then  appeared  the  development  of  the 
Church  of  God  chosen  and  perfected  before  the  world  began. 

Very  soon  after  the  Apostles  began  preaching  the  "Gospel 
of  the  Kingdom,"  we  meet  an  authoritative  statement  of 
its  purpose  in  Acts  xv.  14:  "Simeon  hath  declared  how 
God  at  the  first  did  visit  the  Gentiles,  to  take  out  of  them 
a  people  for  His  name,"  followed  by  the  declaration  from 
the  prophet  Amos,  "J/i5er  this  I  will  return,  and  will  build 
again  the  tabernacle  of  David,"  etc.  Here  we  have  some- 
thing definite  and  positive  in  nature.  Moreover,  it  was 
given  in  the  first  general  council  of  the  Christian  Church 
gathered  at  Jerusalem  by  James,  one  in  authority,  and  in 
itself  was  made  the  basis  of  his  decision  in  the  important 
matter  then  threatening  the  peace  of  the  infant  Church, 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO    CONVERT  THE    WORLD.      09 

and  wliich,  decided  otherwise,  would  have  laid  the  heavy 
yoke  of  the  Jewish  law  upon  all  Gentile  Christians.  To 
all  those  who  attach  more  importance  to  Divine  truth  be- 
cause it  has  been  announced  and  formulated  by  the  highest 
authorities  or  office-bearers  of  the  "  visible  Church,"  this 
whole  statement  of  the  council  at  Jerusalem  should  be  of 
great  value.  From  it  we  learn  that  while  the  blessings  of 
the  Gospel  Dispensation  are  universal  in  the  sense  of  mani- 
festation to  all  men, — Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews, — yet  the 
purpose  of  the  Gospel  is  essentially  one  of  selection, — a 
gathering  from  the  Gentiles  '^a  people  for  His  name." 
Peter  also,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  states  its  universal 
purpose  when  he  declares,  "The  promise  is  unto  you,  and 
to  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,"  but  defines 
its  specific  purpose  of  selection  in  the  succeeding  words, 
"As  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call."  (Acts  ii.  39.) 
The  same  strongly  marked  purpose  is  plainly  revealed  in 
Acts  xiii.  48.  When  Paul  and  Barnabas  waxed  bold,  and 
preached  to  the  Jews,  as  the  Lord  had  commanded  them, 
that  Christ  should  "  be  for  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the 
earth,"  they  announced  the  universal  character  of  the 
Gospel,  but  the  ulterior  purpose  is  very  prominently 
brought  into  view  by  the  record  of  the  results  following 
their  preaching :  "  And  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal 
life  believed."  The  same  general  truth  may  also  be  found 
in  Acts  ii.  47 :  "  And  the  Lord  added  to  the  Church 
daily  such  as  should  be  saved."  With  these,  and  many 
other  passages  of  similar  meaning  and  import  scattered 
through  the  New  Testament,  it  can  scarcely  be  said  that 
the  members  of  the  primitive  Church  cherished  the  pleasant 
delusion,  so  prevalent  in  the  Church  of  modern  centuries, 
that  their  labors  and  sufferings  were  to  be  productive  of  an 
era  of  universal  triumph  of  the  faith  they  professed.    Their 


40  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

hopes  ran  forward  to  the  reappearing  of  Him  whom  they 
liad  seen  ascend  into  heaven,  and  their  trust  was  based  on 
the  promise  of  His  coming. 

The  same  general  principle  of  selection  becomes  ap- 
parent, in  a  wider  sense,  after  a  careful  consideration  of 
John's  vision  of  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb,  in  Rev.  xix. 
When  the  voice  of  the  great  multitude  is  heard  announcing 
iii»gladness  and  joy,  "  The  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come, 
and  the  wife  hath  made  herself  ready,"  it  is  evident  that 
many  others  are  present  than  those  who  compose  the  Church, 
— the  Lamb's  wife.  The  angel  immediately  says,  "  Write, 
Blessed  are  they  wdiich  are  called  unto  the  marriage  supper 
of  the  Lamb,''  and  enforces  attention  to  the  fact  by  de- 
claring, "  These  are  the  true  sayings  of  God."  The  Church 
has  occupied  a  peculiar  position  in  the  world.  It  has  been 
formed  of  those  who,  by  the  marvellous  and  irresistible 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  have  been  united  to  Christ,  who, 
by  virtue  of  Divine  and  Sovereign  Grace,  have  been  chosen 
to  be  the  companions  of  the  Son  in  His  heavenly  glory, 
who,  having  been  truly  identified  with  Him,  have  been 
His  faithful  witnesses  during  His  absence  from  the  earth, 
and  have  waited  patiently,  but  trustfully,  for  His  glorious 
appearing.  They  have  been  selected  to  fill  the  highest  place 
of  honor  Avhich  the  infinite  love  of  God  could  give  to  any 
of  the  human  race. 

But  besides  the  highly-favored  saints,  there  are  many 
others  enjoying  so  richly  the  favor  of  God  that  they  are 
called  "Blessed,"  and  are  invited  to  participate  in  '^the 
marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb."  Who  they  are,  and  whence 
they  come,  are  not  within  the  present  purpose  to  inquire. 
They  may  be  the  saints  of  other  dispensations.  They  cer- 
tainly will  be  the  recipients  of  Divine  favor,  but  they  are 
not  of  the  Church, — the  Bride.     By  no  process  can  all  of 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO   CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     41 

those  who  sit  down  to  the  "  marriage  supper"  be  considered 
as  identical  with,  or  a  part  of,  the  Bride.  The  principle  of 
selection  seems  to  make  evident  that  all  those  who  have 
believed  in  and  accepted  Christ,  between  the  time  of  His 
ascension  to  the  Father  and  the  time  of  His  reappearance 
on  the  earth,  will  be  the  Lamb's  wife.  The  fact  that  these 
have  been  selected  to  high  privilege,  and  called  to  places  of 
honor  and  service,  does  not  in  any  way  militate  against  the 
truth  that  God  by  revelations  of  himself,  and  by  the  ope- 
rations of  His  Holy  Spirit,  has  gathered  many  Saints,  to 
whom  will  be  accorded  the  privilege  of  participation  in 
the  full  manifestation  of  Divine  love  to  men,  and  in  the 
completion  of  His  purpose,  so  far  as  it  is  declared  in  His 
word. 

Of  higher  authority  than  any  yet  quoted  are  the  words 
of  Christ  in  that  wonderful  discourse  recorded  by  Matthew 
(xxiv.  14):  "And  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be 
preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness,  and  then  shall  the 
end  come."  Whatever  may  be  the  truth  contained  in  these 
words,  whatever  may  be  the  interpretation  placed  upon  the 
word  "witness,"  Christ  evidently  did  not  intend  to  assure 
His  disciples  of  success — final,  universal  success — in  pro- 
claiming the  Gospel.  Granting  the  constant  fulfilment  of 
the  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of 
the  world,"  and  resting  in  the  assurance  that  Divine  power 
is  always  present  to  energize  and  make  potential  the  procla- 
mation of  the  Gospel  which  Christ  commanded,  yet,  with 
Christ's  own  declaration  of  the  purpose  of  that  Gospel 
before  us,  can  we  draw  from  any  of  His  utterances,  or 
from  all  combined,  that  which  will  warrant  a  reasonable 
hope  for  the  conversion  of  the  world  before  He  comes? 
Shall  we  confess  that  devotion  to  Christ  is  not  a  sufficient 
motive  and  impulse  to  sustain  us  in  Christian  life  and  ef- 


42  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

fort?  May  we  not  consistently  affirm  that,  had  the  ulti- 
mate success  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  been  a  purpose 
in  the  Divine  mind,  Christ  would  not  only  have  declared 
it,  but  have  presented  it  as  an  encouragement  to  His 
disciples? 

But  it  is  claimed,  and  indeed  asserted,  by  many  as  an 
almost  self-evident  proposition  that  the  proclamation  of 
the  Gospel  as  commanded  by  Christ,  the  bearing  witness 
to  all  nations,  will  be  followed  by  the  conversion  of  all 
nations.  While  freely  admitting  the  truth  that  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  duty  in  proclaiming  the  Gospel  and 
bearing  witness  to  the  Grace  of  God  on  the  part  of  those 
who  are  called  and  chosen,  with  the  attendant  supernat- 
ural power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  operating  on  the  hearts  of 
men,  are  the  means,  and  the  only  revealed  means,  by  which 
souls  may  attain  a  new  spiritual  life,  yet  the  emphatic  and 
repeated  declarations  of  Scripture  do  not  warrant  the  cher- 
ishing of  a  hope  that  the  labors  of  the  Church  are  to  be 
followed  by  the  universal  diffusion  of  the  Grace  of  God. 

The  consummation  of  God's  eternal  purpose  relating  to 
time,  to  be  manifested  in  the  coming  of  Christ,  are  two- 
fold,— the  withdrawal  from  the  world  of  His  own  Church, 
and  the  conquering  of  the  world  by  the  exercise  of 
power  in  the  person  of  His  Son.  In  the  first  aspect  the 
coming  of  Christ  will  be  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise 
made  just  before  His  ascension, — a  going  away,  the  prepa- 
ration of  a  place,  the  coming  again,  and  the  reception  into 
that  place  of  those  who  had  been  called.  By  this  reception 
into  the  place  provided  for  His  saints,  Christ  preserves  His 
people  from  the  perilous  times  which  are  to  come  upon  the 
earth.  The  assurance  to  them  is,  "  Because  thou  hast  kept 
the  word  of  my  patience,  I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the 
hour  of  temptation  which  shall  come  upon  the  world,  to 


THE   GOSPEL   NOT  TO   CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     43 

try  tliem  that  dwell  upon  the  earth."  The  promise  is  not 
that  they  shall  be  sustained  in  or  carried  safely  through 
the  ordeal,  hut  they  shall  be  kept /rom  that  trial,  the  terror 
and  rigor  of  which  we  can  have  but  little  comprehension. 
Whatever  it  may  be,  believers  in  Christ  may  have  the 
assurance  that  by  the  coming  of  the  Lord  and  their  pres- 
ence with  Him,  they  will  have  no  part  or  share  in  that 
■which  is  to  be  the  portion  of  those  upon  the  earth. 

But  it  must  be  marked  that  this  Coming  of  Christ  is 
His  coming  for  His  people,— the  time  they  long  and  wait 
for,  wdien  they  shall  be  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the 
air ;  when,  in  company  with  the  blessed  dead  who  have  died 
in  the  Lord,  they  shall  enter  upon  the  fruition  of  hope. 
The  Church,  composed  of  all  those,  and  only  those,  who 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  have  exercised  faith  on  the 
Lord  Jesus,  as  distinguished  from  those  who  were  saved 
during  the  continuance  of  the  former  Jewish  Dispensation, 
or  who  may  be  saved  after  the  coming  of  Christ  for  His 
people,  Avill  then  be  in  reality  and  in  very  truth  the  "  Body 
of  Christ"  and  ''  the  Bride  of  Christ."  Whatever  may  be 
their  happiness,  or  whatever  may  be  their  blessed  employ- 
ments, we  know  that  they  ^^  shall  ever  be  with  the  Lord." 
With  the  taking  up  of  the  Church,  this  present  Dispensa- 
tion of  the  Grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  ends.  Its  pur- 
pose, the  gathering  of  a  people  for  His  name,  shall  have 
been  consummated. 

In  the  second  aspect,  as  far  as  the  Coming  of  the  Lord 
for  His  Church  is  concerned,  its  influence  on  the  world  will 
be  rather  negative  than  positive.  The  world  may  be  utterly 
unconscious  of  the  great  phenomenon,  and  altogether  igno- 
rant of  the  time  when  it  may  be  taking  place.  But  the  neg- 
ative results  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  Church,  and  with  it 
the  Grace  of  God  as  it  had  been  made  effectual  by  the 


44  THIXGS  OF  THE  KIXGDOM. 

Holy  Gliost,  will  soon  be  made  apparent  in  the  great 
"Apostasy,"  "the  falling  away,"  and  the  appearance  of 
"Antichrist."  While  the  Holy  Ghost  was  present  on  the 
earth,  working  with  power  in  the  lives  of  the  Saints,  and 
daily  bringing  into  spiritual  life  those  whom  it  was  calling, 
the  ordinary  means  of  grace,  the  proclamation  of  the 
Gospel,  the  preaching  of  the  Word,  and  the  power  and 
example  of  Christians,  were  all  influences  which  restrained 
and  modified  the  manifestations  of  evil.  The  reflective 
influences  of  Gospel  truth,  while  powerless  to  produce  any 
genuine  change  of  heart  or  life,  were  yet  effective  in  re- 
straining the  outbreakings  of  sin.  The  mind  of  man  cannot 
conceive  the  wickedness  and  sin  which  will  be  developed 
when  the  depraved  human  heart  is  left  to  follow  its  own 
inclinations.  Indeed,  the  light  and  truth  of  the  Gospel 
despised  and  rejected  will,  like  every  good  thing  perverted, 
be  only  the  means  of  promoting  evil. 

There  is  a  period,  clearly  marked  in  Scripture,  inter- 
vening between  the  time  when  the  Church  is  taken  away 
and  the  return  of  the  Lord  with  His  Saints, — that  "  Comins: 
of  Christ'^  in  which  the  world  will  be  most  deeply  con- 
cerned, for  it  will  be  the  time  of  the  consummation  and 
fulfilment  of  all  the  prophecies  of  judgment  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  kingly  power.  How  long  it  may  continue  has 
not  been  revealed.  It  is  not  important  that  we  should 
know,  and  it  might  be  presumptuous  to  endeavor  to  deter- 
mine, its  time  or  duration.  The  order  of  events  is  clear, 
but  of  the  time  no  man  knoweth.  But  this  interval,  be  it 
long  or  short,  is  the  time  of  tribulation,  "  such  as  was  not 
since  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this  time,  no,  nor  ever 
shall  be,"  the  time  when  "  that  wicked  shall  be  revealed," 
when  the  nominal  Church  left  on  the  earth  shall  become 
more  corrupt  than    ever, — the  time  when  "the   God   of 


THE   GOSPEL  NOT  TO   CONVERT  THE    WORLD.     45 

Heaven^'  begins  to  ''set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  never  be 
destroyed,"  and  which  by  its  continued  progress  and  power 
"shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all"  other  kingdoms. 
The  revealed  truth  that  Christ  will  withdraw  His  Church 
from  the  world  at  a  future  time,  and  the  prophecy  and 
statement  of  the  events  which  will  tlien  occur,  make  it 
evident  that  the  conversion  of  the  w^orld  by  the  Gospel 
which  Christ  preached  on  the  earth  was  not  its  design. 
In  addition  to  the  entire  absence  of  any  statement  upon 
which  a  hope  could  be  based,  we  have  the  clear  prophecy 
of  the  existence  and  intense  activity  of  evil,  the  develop- 
ment of  which  will  carry  the  world  deeper  and  deeper  into 
sin  and  misery. 

When  this  dark  and  doleful  period  of  the  world's  history 
shall  have  ended,  Christ  will  come  to  rule  as  the  Son  of 
David,  to  take  possession  of  the  promised  inheritance,  to 
rule  on  earth  as  he  has  ruled  in  Heaven.  Then  will  the 
promised  Millennium  begin.  Having  returned  to  earth 
and  bound  Satan,  Christ  will  take  possession  of  His  earthly 
throne.  "  All  things  that  offend  and  them  that  do  iniquity" 
shall  be  gathered  out.  "  The  righteous  shall  shine  forth  as 
the  sun."  All  those  marvellous  forces  by  which  evil  in  man, 
in  the  beasts,  and  in  the  material  universe  is  subdued  will 
be  in  full  and  constant  operation,  and  the  final  result  will 
be  that  "  the  whole  earth  will  be  filled  with  His  glory." 

A  very  brief  sketch  of  what  I  believe  to  be  the  revealed 
purpose  of  God  w^ll  close  the  consideration  of  this  most 
important  question,  upon  which  so  much  depends, — not  a 
statement  of  chronology,  attempting  to  fix  dates  or  seasons, 
but  simply  the  order  of  times  and  events  as  foreshadowed 
or  clearly  stated  in  Scripture  and  confirmed  by  history. 

First  The  period  of  liberty,  extending  from  the  fall  of 
man  to  God's  calling  of  Abraham. 

4 


46  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

Second.  The  period  embracing  the  history  of  the  Jews 
from  the  calling  of  Abraham  up  to  the  advent  and  rejec- 
tion of  Christ,  when  men  were  under  a  process  of  Law. 

Third.  The  Dispensation  of  Grace,  in  which  w^e  are  now 
living,  the  period  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is  gathering 
out  from  the  world  those  who  will  compose  the  Church, — 
the  Body  and  Bride  of  Christ. 

^Fourth.  That  period,  be  it  long  or  short,  intervening  be- 
tween the  coming  of  Christ  for  His  Church  and  His  coming 
to  reign  upon  the  earth, — the  time  of  judgment  betwixt  the 
Grace  Dispensation  and  the  Millennium. 

Fifth.  The  Millennium,  that  period  of  universal  peace  and 
happiness  which  it  is  ordinarily  supposed  is  to  continue  for 
one  thousand  years  on  the  earth. 

Sixth.  The  little  time  when  Satan  shall  be  loosed  for  a 
season. 

Seventh.  "Then  cometh  the  end,  when  He  shall  have 
delivered  up  the  Kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father,'^ — that 
Dispensation  of  Ages  of  which  we  have  no  revelation,  that 
period  of  which  it  may  be  said  "  God  is  all  in  all.'' 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEWISH  DISPEN- 
SATION. 

The  Old  Testament  is  not  a  sealed  book,  the  importance 
of  which  passed  away  when  Christ  ascended  to  heaven. 
Those  Christians  are  in  error  who  think  that  the  princi- 
ples which  governed  the  Jewish  nation  and  the  remarkable 
events  which  crowded  its  history,  can  have  but  little  interest 
or  practical  benefit  for  those  who  are  supposed  to  be  in  full 
possession  of  the  promised  inheritance.  The  Church  of  the 
present  Dispensation  accepts  the  fact  that  it  is  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  invaluable  blessings  because  of  unbelief  on  the 
part  of  the  Jews,  but  the  Church  has  never  fully  accepted 
in  its  inner  consciousness  the  equally  important  truths  that 
it  is  not  in  the  line  of  direct  succession ;  that  it  has  but 
slight,  if  any,  portion  or  lot  in  the  Old  Testament  prophe- 
cies; that  the  exact  and  literal  fulfilment  of  all  the  prom- 
ises to  the  Jews  is  only  temporarily  suspended;  and  that  the 
time  will  come  when  the  Star  of  Jacob  will  be  in  the  as- 
cendant and  the  kingdom  be  restored  to  Israel.  Vastly 
important  to  ourselves  and  intimately  connected  with  the 
final  destiny  of  the  human  race  as  is  the  Church  of  God,  its 
birth,  progress,  and  culmination  are  not  embraced  in  the 
general  scope  of  Hebrew  prophecy.  We  deceive  ourselves 
with  false  hopes  if  we  appropriate  to  the  Church  of  this 
Dispensation  the  promises  upon  which  the  ancient  Jews 
based  their  faith  of  a  future  earthly  reign  of  their  Messiah. 
The  redemption  of  the  Avorld  would  have  been  effected  by 

47 


48  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

Christ  at  His  first  coming  had  He  been  accepted  by  His 
brethren.  Tlieir  cordial  reception  of  Him  and  complete 
recognition  of  His  divine  character  would  have  been  the 
prelude  to  their  highest  national  glory.  All  that  had  been 
promised  would  have  been  in  immediate  process  of  fulfil- 
ment. The  conditions  would  indeed  have  been  altogether 
different :  the  race  of  men  would  not  for  eighteen  hundred 
v^rs  have  borne  the  awful  burden  of  guilt  arising  from 
the  crucifixion  of  its  Lord  ;  there  would  have  been  the 
universal  and  probably  sudden  manifestation  of  that  "'  king- 
dom" which  John  declared  was  "  at  hand."  Whatever  the- 
ories we  may  entertain  on  this  subject,  we  may  rest  assured 
of  the  fact  that  the  infinite  resources  of  the  Eternal  God 
would  then  and  there  have  accomplished  His  designs  of 
love  to  men  had  the  Jews  joyfully  accepted  instead  of 
bitterly  rejecting  His  Son. 

Although  the  Church  of  the  present  was  not  revealed 
to  the  gaze  of  the  prophets,  Christ  and  the  Apostles  have 
given  us  two  general  truths  concerning  it.  On  earth  it  is 
to  be  the  faithful  witness  of  its  absent  Lord.  When  He 
comes  to  take  it  to  Himself,  it  will  be  an  active  participant 
in  His  purpose  of  love  and  mercy,  and  a  sharer  with  Him 
in  His  glory.  Beyond  these  we  have  but  little  of  its  duties 
or  rewards.  We  are  confident  that  the  grace  and  love  of 
the  Lord  are  so  infinite  and  His  resources  so  inexhaustible 
that  the  blessings  granted  to  the  Gentiles  will  in  no  way 
detract  from  the  future  glory  of  the  Jews,  neither  will  their 
possession  of  the  earth  and  the  glorious  earthly  kingdom 
of  the  Jews  interfere  with  or  in  any  way  aifect  the  close 
union  between  Christ  and  His  chosen  Church. 

It  is  impossible  to  have  any  correct  understanding  of  the 
relation  in  which  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  stand  to 
each  other,  or  to  have  any  true  conception  of  God's  great 


THE  JEWISH  DISPENSATION.  49 

plan  of  good  to  the  human  race,  ordered  from  the  begin- 
ning of  time  and  extending  onward  to  its  close,  unless  we 
first  gain  some  distinct  idea  of  His  revealed  purpose  to  and 
with  the  Jews.  The  basis  upon  which  rests  the  whole  Jew- 
ish economy  is  found  in  God's  covenant  with  and  promise 
to  Abraham.  It  was  essential  to  the  fulfilment  of  this 
promise  that  God  should  select  from  the  people  of  the 
earth,  then  sunk  in  idolatry  and  sin,  a  nation  that  would 
be  a  "  peculiar  people,"  upon  whom  He  would  lavish  His 
favor,  and  to  whom  He  would  make  special  and  definite 
revelations  of  Himself  and  His  will. 

He  would  make  them  not  only  the  prophets  of  good 
things  for  all  nations,  but  also  the  active  participants  in 
accomplishing  that  which  they  foretold.  That  they  were 
called  to  be  the  witnesses  and  teachers  of  the  fundamental 
truth  of  Monotheism,  is  apparent  in  all  the  Jewish  records. 
The  eternal  existence,  the  Personality,  and  the  Unity  of 
God  were  indelibly  impressed  upon  tJjeir  minds  and  wrought 
into  their  hearts.  By  the  revelations  God  made  of  Him- 
self to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  by  the  deliverance  of 
their  descendants  from  Egyptian  bondage  and  His  guidance 
of  them  through  the  wilderness,  by  the  giving  of  the  Law 
from  Sinai,  and  the  foundation  of  a  new  order  of  religious 
ceremonials,  sacrifices,  and  worship), — symbolical  of  still 
greater  blessings  in  store, — they  were  taught  that  all  was 
for  their  restoration  to  purity  and  holiness  by  the  closest 
possible  alliance  of  humanity  with  the  everlasting  God,  and 
that,  under  certain  conditions,  Jehovah  would  establish  an 
assured  communion  between  Himself  and  the  chosen  people 
that  would  be  for  their  peace  and  happiness.  A  loving 
Father,  yearning  for  His  rebellious  children,  would  absorb 
them  into  His  own  life  and  holiness  by  placing  them  under 
the  guidance  of  His  own  hand,  subjecting  them  to  a  Law 


50  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

of  absolute  purity,  with  an  ultimate  design  of  dwelling 
within  their  hearts  and  establishing  a  kingdom  of  Right- 
eousness upon  the  earth.  Leaving  out  of  view,  for  the  time, 
the  symbolism  of  the  ancient  worship,  we  find  that  these 
principles  give  continuity  to  the  whole  record  of  God's 
dealing  with  His  chosen  people  and  evidence  of  the  wonder- 
ful ada})tation  of  the  process  to  accomplish  the  proposed 
ei>^.  Take,  for  example,  that  portion  of  Jewish  history 
embracing  their  rebellion  and  consequent  forty  years'  so- 
journ in  the  wilderness.  The  generation  which  had  been 
intimately  familiar  with  and  constantly  tempted  by  the 
idolatry  of  Egyj)t  was  cut  off  and  its  place  supplied  by  one 
formed  and  moulded  by  God's  own  hand.  Their  religious 
conceptions  had  been  created  and  fixed,  their  moral  con- 
sciousness awakened  and  deepened,  by  the  authority  of  the 
moral  law  and  by  the  constant  influence  of  the  Tabernacle 
service.  The  enjoined  necessity  for  and  frequent  recurrence 
of  the  bloody  sacrifices  assured  them  of  an  ever-present 
sinfulness  and  corruption,  from  which  forgiveness,  at  least, 
might  be  obtained.  Their  repeated  deliverances  from  im- 
pending dangers  by  displays  of  miraculous  power  had 
wrought  into  their  souls  a  feeling  of  dependence  upon  that 
"  Jehovah"  whose  new  name  had  been  given  to  tliem  in 
their  '^  anguish  of  spirit"  and  "  deep  bondage."  They  came 
to  the  borders  of  Canaan  a  strong  people,  young  in  years, 
prepared  to  take  and  hold  possession  of  tlie  land  promised 
to  their  fathers.  Their  theology  was  pure,  their  principles 
of  domestic  and  social  economy  were  the  best  in  the  world, 
and  to-day  form  the  basis  of  civilized  life,  and  their  wor- 
ship and  religious  belief  had  been  interwoven  into  their 
individual  and  national  life.  They  were  in  every  way 
prepared  for  the  work  they  were  to  do.  The  purpose  of 
God  in  choosing  a  people,  and  the  successful  result  of  the 


THE  JEWISH  DISPENSATION.  51 

discipline  and  training,  became  evident  when  they  entered 
into  possession  of  Caanan. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  characteristics  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  always  present  with  them,  and  continually  finding 
expression  in  their  prayers,  psalms,  and  prophecies,  is  their 
firm  belief  in  a  happy  state  of  being  on  the  earth  for  all 
its  inhabitants,  a  condition  of  peace,  joy,  and  prosperity, 
of  which  they  were  to  be  the  channel.  As  Isaac  Taylor 
says,  ^'It  is  greatly  this  steadfast  confidence  in  a  bright 
future  for  all  nations  that  gives  unity  and  coherence  to 
Hebrew  prophecy,  and  which  blends  into  a  mass  the  vari- 
ous materials  of  which  it  consists.  It  is  this  hope  for  the 
world  that  has  welded  into  one  the  succession  of  the  Old 
Testament  writers.  The  Patriarch  of  the  race  received  this 
very  promise,  that  in  him  should  all  nations  henceforth  be 
made  happy."  David  and  the  Ps:il mists  take  up  this  same 
large  assurance  and  say,  "All  nations  whom  Thou  hast 
made  shall  come,  and  worship  before  Thee."  Isaiah  rests 
often  upon  this  theme,  and  kindles  as  he  expands  it ;  and 
one  of  the  last  of  this  company  foresees  the  setting  up  of  a 
kingdom  which  should  have  no  end,  and  which  should 
embrace  "  all  people,  nations,  and  languages."  It  is  true 
that  Palestine  was  always  the  Hebrew  Prophet's  foreground 
and  the  Holy  City  his  resting-place;  but  he  looked  out 
beyond  these  near  objects,  and  with  the  remoteness  of  place 
he  connected  the  remoteness  of  time,  and  dwelt,  with  fer- 
vent aspirations,  upon  the  promise  of  an  age  when  "from 
the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  of  the  same"  the 
anthems  of  a  universal  worshij)  shall  ascend  from  earth  to 
heaven.  Singular  it  is  that  a  people  so  intensely  national 
and  exclusive  in  thought  and  feeling,  so  isolated  by  the 
circumstances  of  their  Divine  training,  should  so  confidently 
anticipate  and  clearly  predict  a  time  of  peace,  justice,  and 


52  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

truth  for  all  nations.  The  dreams  and  imaginings  of  the 
poets  of  other  nations  will  not  compare,  for  far-reaching 
extent,  with  the  vision  of  these  ancient  seers.  Strange  as 
it  seems,  the  Jew,  whose  high  privilege  came  from  birth 
and  blood,  who  regarded  all  others  with  contempt,  preached 
a  philanthropy  through  his  prophets  that  was  absolutely 
unrestricted,  embracing  an  area  wide  as  the  world  and 
reaching  forward  into  ages  yet  to  come.  The  genuine 
philanthropy  of  the  world  bases  itself  ii})on  and  is  cher- 
ished by  the  principles  of  the  prophets.  In  them,  rather 
than  in  the  words  of  Christ,  do  we  find  any  warrant  for  a 
hope  of  the  ultimate  triumph  on  the  earth  of  justice  and 
benevolence.  To  them  seems  to  have  been  revealed  with 
Divine  precision  what  God  was  to  do  on  the  earth  with 
Israel  and  the  nations.  In  striking  contrast  with  the  ful- 
ness of  their  visions  is  the  remarkable  silence  of  the  New 
Testament  concerning  the  destiny  of  nations,  and  of  the 
progress  and  universal  diffusion  of  the  Gospel.  What  we 
gather  from  the  words  of  Christ  and  the  Epistles  of  the 
Apostles  (the  Eevelation  of  John  only  excepted,  for  that 
is  inextricably  combined  with  the  Jewish  prophecies)  assures 
us  of  waning  faith,  continued  and  successful  aggressions 
of  evil  powers,  the  depredations  of  "grievous  wolves,"  of 
"perverse  men"  drawing  disciples  after  them,  and  of  peril- 
ous times  for  men.  Instead  of  peace,  Christ's  advent  is 
followed  by  the  sword.  The  Xew  Testament  has  no  prom- 
ises of  earthly  comfort  or  prosperity  as  the  rew^ard  of  per- 
sonal piety.  The  Christian  is  to  be  content  with  food  and 
shelter,  trusting  in  the  continued  presence  of  Christ  in  the 
soul,  and  solacing  himself  with  the  thought  that  "the 
coming  of  the  Lord  draweth  nigh"  and  "  hoping  unto  the 
end  for  the  grace  that  is  to  be  brought  unto  them  at  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ." 


THE  JEWISH  DISPENSATION.  53 

Aside  from  the  all-pervading  influence  of  inspiration 
which  made  these  predictions  absolute  truth,  a  natural 
reasoii  for  this  marked  peculiarity  may  be  discerned  in  the 
fact  that  the  whole  Jewish  economy  and  legal  dispensation 
were  national  in  character,  tempoi^al  in  duration,  and  (apart 
from  figurative  intent  and  symbolical  design)  thoroughly 
materialistic  in  spirit.  They  were  national  by  the  circum- 
stances of  Divine  choice, — from  tiie  selection  of  the  seed 
of  one  man  through  whom  the  blessing  nmst  flow,  a  God- 
given  birth  which  came  only  by  heredity.  They  are  purely 
national  because  the  burden  of  the  prophecies  is  the  latter- 
day  glory  of  the  Jewish  people,  when  they  shall  have  found 
and  accepted  the  Messiah,  when  the  Gentile  nations  have 
been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  and  the  curse 
removed  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

They  were  temporal,  because  they  were  to  have  their 
consummation  on  the  earth,  and  to  fulfil  a  purpose  among 
the  nations  regarded  in  the  mass.  Except,  therefore,  as  an 
underlying  and  assumed  principle  springing  from  the  eter- 
nity of  God,  a  future  immortality  was  not  an  essential  ])art 
of  the  Jewish  system  as  such.  A  promise  of  individual 
immortality  was  very  dimly,  if  at  all,  revealed,  and  we 
search  in  vain  for  any  definite  declaration  which  can  be 
regarded  as  confirmatory  of  the  glorious  hope.  Now,  in 
the  authentic  announcement  of  immortality  and  the  incon- 
testable evidence  given  by  Christ,  the  yearnings  and  aspira- 
tions of  the  Psalmists  and  pro{)hets  may  be  regarded  as 
only  the  gropings  and  reachings  forward  of  those  to 
whom  no  clear  revelations  had  been  vouchsafed. 

In  nothing,  perhaps,  is  the  diflerence  between  the  Jewish 
and  Christian  systems  more  clearly  marked  than  in  the 
feelings  awakened  in  pious  hearts  by  the  contemplation  of 
the  natural  death  of  the  body.     The  Psalmist  pleadingly 


54  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

cries  out,  "  What  profit  is  there  in  my  blood  when  I  go 
clown  to  the  pit?  shall  the  dust  praise  Thee?  shall  it  declare 
Thy  truth  ?"  and  again  he  affirms  "  that  the  dead  praise 
not  the  Lord,  neither  any  that  go  down  in  silence/^  Again 
he  asks  the  questions,  "  Wilt  Thou  show  wonders  to  the 
dead?  shall  the  dead  arise  and  praise  thee?  shall  Thy  loving- 
kindness  be  declared  in  the  grave,  or  Thy  faithfulness  in 
destruction  ?  shall  Thy  wonders  be  known  in  the  dark  and 
Thy  righteousness  in  the  land  of  forgetfulness  ?''  He  clings 
closely  to  life  because  "  in  death  there  is  no  remembrance 
of  Thee.  In  the  grave,  who  shall  give  Thee  thanks?" 
When  he  was  afflicted  and  poured  out  his  complaint  before 
the  Lord,  he  said,  "O  my  God,  take  me  not  away  in  the 
midst  of  my  days."  Solomon  gives  utterance  to  the  same 
idea  when  he  declares,  "  There  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor 
knowledge,  nor  Avisdom  in  the  grave  W'hither  thou  goest." 

Hezekiah  doubtless  expressed  the  feelings  of  the  pious 
Jew  on  his  recovery  from  sickness  and  deliverance  from 
death  :  "  I  said  in  the  cutting  off  of  my  days,  I  shall  go  to 
the  gates  of  the  grave  :  I  am  deprived  of  the  residue  of  my 
days.  .  .  .  For  the  grave  cannot  praise  Thee,  death  cannot 
celebrate  Thee,  they  that  go  down  into  the  pit  cannot  hope 
for  Thy  truth.  The  living,  the  living,  he  shall  praise  Thee 
as  I  do  this  day :  the  father  to  the  children  shall  make 
known  Thy  truth." 

The  natural  shrinking  from  death,  either  as  an  entrance 
upon  a  new  condition  of  being  or  a  ceasing  to  be,  did  not 
arise  in  the  breast  of  the  Jewish  saints  from  any  slavish 
fear  of  God  or  from  visions  of  a  dread  future  called  up  by 
a  guilty  conscience.  It  was  because  they  believed  death  to 
be  the  end  of  their  usefulness.  They  desired  to  remain  on 
the  earth  to  serve  and  honor  the  Lord,  to  enjoy  the  bounties 
of  His  hand,  to  receive,  even  to  a  good  old  age,  the  bless- 


THE  JEWISH  DISPENSATION.  55 

iiigs  which  He  had  jonied  to  the  faithful  performance  of 
duty.  The  future  being  shrouded  in  darkness,  the  earth 
was  their  portion,  and  they  would  gain  from  it  all  the  satis- 
faction it  could  afford. 

To  Cliristians  all  is  different.  For  them  death  has  no 
terrors,  for  it  has  been  conquered  for  them  by  Christ. 
Deatli  is  only  the  servant  to  usher  them  into  the  presence 
of  their  Lord.  The  real  object  of  the  Christian's  hope  is 
not  his  individual  happiness  after  the  life  on  earth,  but  the 
comino;  of  Christ  and  the  resurrection  of  the  saints.  To  meet 
death  is  not  the  object  of  a  saint:  it  is  merely  the  entrance 
upon  that  eternity  of  glory  which  Christ  has  assured. 

''  When  the  Most  High  divided  to  the  nations  their  in- 
heritance, when  He  separated  the  sons  of  Adam,  He  set  the 
bounds  of  the  people  according  to  the  number  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel.''     The  division   and   separation  were  not 
from  any  inherent  goodness  in  the  Hebrews  exceeding  that 
of  the  surrounding  idolatrous  nations.    It  was  the  first  step 
in  the  process  by  which  God,  who  is  a  Spirit,  would  mani- 
fest Himself  in  a  spiritual  manner  as  a  reconciled  God  to 
every  son  and  daughter  of  Adam,  and  raise  them  from  a 
position  of  degradation  to  one  of  glory  and  honor  far  above 
that  forfeited  by  their  progenitor.     The  Jews  w^ere  simply 
the  material  through  which  He  would  reveal  Himself  and 
His  plan  of  mercy  culminating  in  the  Incarnation  of  His 
Son.     Descending  from  the  lieights  of  His  own  glory  and 
meeting  the  race  of  men  at  their  lowest  point.  He  would 
redeem  them  from  sin  and  lead  them  by  a  gradual  and  long- 
continued  process  to  the  point  where  He  Avould  give  them 
all  He  had  to  give, — Himself  in  the  Person  of  His  Divine 
Son.     As  the  word  of  the  Lord  said  unto  Jeremiah,  i\\Q 
whole  house  of  Israel  and  the  whole  house  of  Judah  were 
to  be  unto  the  Lord  "  for  a  people,  and  for  a  name,  and  for 


56  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

a  praise,  and  for  a  glory;"  they  were  to  form  an  earthly 
kingdom  of  Righteousness,  to  be  a  light  unto  all  nations. 

The  discipline  and  training  of  this  chosen  nation  was  in 
accordance  with  the  nature  of  man,  was  perfectly  adapted 
to  its  purposed  result,  but  nevertheless  its  apparent  failure 
for  a  time  may  be  expressed  in  the  words  of  Isaiah  :  ^'  What 
could  have  been  done  more  to  my  vineyard  that  I  have  not 
^one  in  it  ?  wherefore,  when  I  looked  that  it  should  bring 
forth  grapes,  brought  it  forth  wild  grapes  ?"  The  more  Je- 
hovah would  favor  the  chosen  people  the  more  rel^ellious 
they  became,  the  more  He  did  for  them,  the  harder  ap- 
peared to  grow  their  hearts,  until  that  inborn  depravity, 
increasing  continually  by  a  natural  course  of  events,  came 
to  a  full  development  in  the  highest  crime  it  was  within  the 
power  of  man  to  commit, — the  death  of  Him  who  came 
to  be  their  Prince  and  Saviour.  At  the  cross  on  Calvary 
God's  infinite  love  and  man's  bitterest  hatred  met.  There 
a  reconciled  God  was  manifested  to  sinful,  rebellious  men. 
There  the  middle-wall  of  partition  which  had  so  long  stood 
between  the  Jew  and  the  Gentile  was  broken  dowji,  and  a 
way  of  access  to  the  Holy  of  Holies,  which  had  hitherto 
been  approached  by  an  earthly  High  Priest,  and  that  only 
once  a  year,  was  opened  fully  to  every  human  soul.  Par- 
don, with  all  it  involved,  was  open  and  free  to  those  who 
w^ould  accept  it.  Christ,  living  and  dying  in  the  flesh  as 
the  Son  of  man,  proclaimed  a  common  salvation  for  all  the 
sons  of  Adam,  and  abolished  forever  both  the  enmity  and 
power  of  the  law  over  those  who  received  Him.  Bv  uniting 
them  to  Himself,  and  making  them  in  a  special  sense  the 
sons  of  God,  He  wrought  out  for  them  an  elective  or  per- 
sonal salvation  different  in  nature,  extent,  and  privilege 
from  that  which  resulted  to  the  entire  race  from  His  as- 
sumption of  human  form.     The  enmity  of  the  law  having 


THE  JEWISH  DISPENSATION.  57 

been  taken  away  by  pardon,  there  remained  nothing  that 
would  prevent  the  acceptance  of  a  full  and  finished  sal- 
vation by  any  human  soul.  Law  had  been  conquered  by 
Grace.  Men  were  free  to  choose  either,  but  must  abide  by 
their  choice.  Those  who  would  live  by  the  Law  might 
gather  what  advantage  they  could  from  it,  but  judgment 
by  that  Law  must  be  the  consequent  of  their  election. 

Without  any  present  consideration  of  the  causes  by 
which  the  chosen  people  were  led,  in  spite  of  their  long- 
continued  course  of  discipline  and  preparation,  to  refuse 
the  promised  Messiah,  who  would  at  that  time  immediately 
have  entered  upon  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  relating 
to  their  nation,  we  accept  the  fact  that  the  Jews  rejected 
Christ,  and  thus  opened  at  once  a  way  of  salvation  for  the 
Gentiles,  and  rest  in  the  faith  that,  as  God  in  His  infinite 
wisdom  has  made  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,  He  will 
in  the  future  latter  days  establish  an  Earthly  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  leaving  to  His  Church  the  blessed  work  of  witness- 
ing for  Him  during  the  long  interval  existing  between  the 
apparent  failure  of  the  Legal  Jewish  Dispensation  and  the 
manifestation  of  His  glory  at  the  appearing  of  Christ. 

As  Law  in  all  its  power  of  restraint  and  penalty  was  the 
spirit  of  the  old  economy,  and  Grace  with  its  absolute 
freedom  and  its  happy  results  following  from  their  proper 
cause  is  the  moving  impulse  of  the  new  economy,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  Christian  dispensation  must  be  in  every  re- 
spect different  from  that  which  had  preceded  it.  The  objects 
and  motives  in  each  being  dissimilar,  the  process  by  which 
the  end  of  either  can  be  attained  will  have  but  little  in 
common.  The  Jew  and  the  Christian  cannot  travel  on  the 
same  highw^ay.  They  may  indeed  observe  the  same  code 
of  morals  and  be  governed  to  a  certain  extent  by  the  same 
eternal  laws  of  right  and  wrong  in  all  their  relations  with 


58  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

their  fellow-men,  but  they  can  never  stand  in  the  same 
relation  to  God,  the  Father  of  all,  until  they  are  full  par- 
ticipants in  a  common  faith.  The  ceremonial  worship, 
which  had  served  so  good  a  purpose  in  pointing  the  faith 
of  Jewish  believers  to  Christ,  was  shorn  of  its  strength  and 
beauty,  and  could  no  longer  be  of  any  efficiency  to  the  wor- 
shipper, for  it  was  displaced  by  that  heart-worship  "in 
^spirit  and  in  truth''  of  which  Christ  had  spoken.  The 
bloody  sacrifices  wTre  unavailing,  for  Christ  had  by  His 
own  death  deprived  them  of  all  power.  An  examination 
of  some  points  in  which  the  difference  between  the  Law 
and  Gospe],  or  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  dispensations, 
is  strongly  marked,  may  be  of  practical  benefit  to  some 
Christians  who  are  tempted  to  rest  their  hopes  more  on 
"the  works  of  the  law''  than  on  the  finished  salvation 
througli  Christ  so  freely  manifested  for  their  acceptance 
in  the  Gospel. 

The  whole  legal  system  was  a  result  of  the  covenant  be- 
tween God  and  Abraham  and  his  descendants.  A  cove- 
nant continues  in  force  during  a  specified  time  or  until  the 
death  of  either  of  the  parties.  All  the  blessing  and  mercy 
promised  in  this  covenant  culminated  in  the  gift  of  Jesus 
Christ,  who,  coming  from  the  Eternal  Father,  stood  ready 
to  give  to  the  chosen  people  just  what  they  had  long  hoped 
for,  and  which  would  have  been  the  fruition  of  all  their 
desires.  With  Christ's  death  the  covenant  of  works  be- 
came null  and  void  by  the  act  of  those  for  whose  benefit 
it  had  been  instituted,  or  rather  its  provisions  were  held  in 
abeyance  and  temporarily  suspended.  What,  then,  is  the 
position  of  a  believer  in  Christ  ?  He,  by  faith,  becomes  a 
participant  in  the  blessing  resulting  and  flowing  from  the 
Covenant  of  Grace  between  God  the  Father  and  Christ 
the  Son  of  Man.     Christ,  by  His  death,  becomes  a  Testa- 


THE  JEWISH  DISPENSATION.  59 

tor,  and  bequeaths  to  all  believers  the  infinite  riches  of  His 
love  and  grace  in  the  New  Testament  of  His  blood.  By 
it  all  believers  become  the  sons  of  God  and  partakers  of 
Eternal  Life.  They  form  a  new  creation  in  Christ  Jesus, 
different  in  origin,  in  spirit,  and  in  result  from  any  life 
that  had  previously  been  in  the  world. 

Under  the  Law,  God  was  worshipped  more  acceptably 
in  certain  places  than  in  others.  Access  to  Jehovah  was 
through  the  ])riesthood.  The  priests  could  venture  to  ap- 
proach the  Holy  Place  only  after  a  process  of  purification 
and  clothed  in  a  prescribed  dress.  The  magnificent  earthly 
temple  at  Jerusalem  was  the  one  spot  where  the  Lord  was 
most  fully  manifested  to  those  who  would  seek  Him.  An 
offering  or  a  sacrifice  of  the  best  he  possessed  must  be  pre- 
sented by  him  who  would  enjoy  the  Divine  favor.  The 
entire  service  was  national  in  character,  adapted  to  an 
earthly  people,  and  restricted  to  localities.  Gospel-worship 
is  universal  in  character,  spiritual  in  nature,  reaching  be- 
yond the  temporal,  and  finding  its  consummation  in  the 
eternal.  Its  participants  serve  in  the  newness  of  the  Spirit, 
being  fully  delivered  from  the  oldness  of  the  letter.  The 
old  material  worship,  visible  to  the  outward  eye,  brought 
with  it  no  peace  to  the  conscience,  no  blessed  assurance  of 
pardoned  sin,  but  the  invisible  spiritual,  eternal  Gospel- 
worship  brings  with  it  the  j)eace  of  God  by  uniting  the 
soul  to  God.  While  it  is  universal,  it  is  also  individual 
by  virtue  of  this  union.  While  Christians  are  not  a  nation 
in  the  proper  sense,  and  do  not  worship  in  a  worldly  tem- 
ple, yet  they  do  form  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people, 
having  citizenship  in  heaven,  and  a  Great  High  Priest, 
who,  having  risen  from  the  dead,  offers  up  continually 
spiritual  sacrifices  acceptable  to  God.  Christianity  is  in 
one  sense  a  religion  without  a  temple,  an  altar,  or  a  sacri- 


(JO  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

ficing  ])riest.  All  who  are  drawn  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  become  the  subjects  of  that  faith  by  which 
they  receive  Christ  in  all  His  fulness  as  their  Saviour,  and 
thus  are  made  members  of  the  redeemed  Church,  saved 
from  the  power  of  sin,  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  the 
law,  and  made  i)artakers  of  the  liberty  of  the  children  of 
God. 

Of  these,  and  these  only,  is  the  Church  of  Christ  com- 
posed. The  Church  is  formed  of  sanctified  souls  called 
from  the  world,  made  members  of  Christ,  and  members 
one  of  another.  Tliey  are  the  members  of  the  "  one  Body," 
of  which  Christ  is  the  Head, — they  are  all  new  creatures 
in  Christ  Jesus.  The  Church  is  formed  of  those  who,  in 
the  truest  and  deepest  sense,  are  the  people  of  God,  and  are 
such  because,  as  Simeon  declared,  '^  God  at  the  first  visited 
the  Gentiles,  to  take  out  of  them  a  people  unto  His  name." 
(Acts  XV.  14.)  It  is  the  result  of  Christ's  life-work  and 
death,  by  w^hich  He  hath  broken  down  the  middle-wall  of 
partition,  and  made  in  Himself  of  twain  one  neio  man, — a 
new  creation,  different  from  all  that  had  preceded  it.  The 
perfect  manifestation  of  a  reconciled  God,  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ,  forever  abolished  the  Jewish  Law,  the  Jewish 
temple  and  sacrifices,  everything  that  was  material  and  ex- 
ternal, and  made  the  faith  of  the  individual  soul  the  means 
by  which  the  new  relation  between  God  and  man  was  begun 
and  continued.  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  being  spiritual 
in  essence,  swept  away  all  that  was  visible  save  that  which 
sprang  legitimately  from  His  own  sacrifice,  an  outward 
sign  for  an  inward  grace. 

A  logical  inference  may  be  drawn  from  this  scriptural 
view  of  the  constitution  of  the  Church  that  would  relegate 
to  their  proper  place  among  the  typical  ceremonies  of  the 
Jewish  economy  many  of  the  practices  of  modern  Chris- 


THE  JEWISH  DISPENSATION.  61 

tendom  whi(;h  have  a  tendency  to  make  the  Churcli  notliing 
more  than  a  refined  Judaism.  They  are  the  result  of  a 
human  mingb'ng  of  what  God  hatli  forever  separated, — 
Law  and  Grace.  The  spirit  prompting  them  is  dishonor- 
ing to  God  ;  for,  denying  the  truth  that  "  Christ  is  the  end 
of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth,'' 
it  would  establish  a  righteousness  of  human  effort  and 
would  cover  the  simple  truth  of  the  Gospel  with  the  misty 
clouds  of  a  human  and  false  theology.  It  would  transform 
the  Gospel  of  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all  people  into  a 
system  of  intellectual  philosophy,  finding  its  proper  home 
in  a  visible  organization  claiming  to  exercise  by  a  Divine 
right  the  same  spirit  and  legal  force  which  were  un- 
doubtedly lodged  with  the  priesthood  of  the  ancient  people 
while  under  the  reign  of  law.  The  sad  results  are  seen  in 
the  multitudes  of  the  professed  followers  of  Christ  who 
are  "almost,  but  not  altogether,"  Christians;  struggling 
between  law  and  grace ;  having  too  much  light  to  find  all 
their  satisfaction  in  the  world,  but  not  enough  confidence  in 
grace  to  come  out  and  be  separated  from  the  world  ;  striving 
to  believe  that  they  are  at  peace  with  God,  but  not  having 
the  peace  of  God  dwelling  in  their  hearts;  working  that 
they  may  obtain  life  instead  of  manifesting  by  their  work 
the  Divine  life  which  has  been  implanted  in  their  hearts. 

In  endeavoring  to  get  some  idea  of  the  characteristics 
which  mark  the  Jewish  Dispensation,  the  great  contrast 
which  they  offer  to  those  of  the  Gospel  Dispensation,  as 
they  are  presented  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New, 
in  Law  and  in  Grace,  may  make  them  more  evident.  It 
has  been  truly  said  that  "  the  New  Testament  is  hidden  in 
the  Old,  and  the  Old  is  opened  in  the  New."  Adam  is 
the  head  of  a  fallen  creation,  Christ  is  the  Head  of  a  new 
spiritual  creation.     In  the  old  creation,  man  belonged  to 


62  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

death;  in  the  new,  death  belongs  to  man.  (1  Cor.  iii.  22, 
23.)  In  the  old,  death  takes  everything  from  man;  in  the 
new,  death  gives  ns  all  things.  In  one,  death  was  a  master, 
in  the  other,  a  servant, — in  one,  an  officer  to  drag  to  justice, 
in  the  other,  a  messenger  to  carry  us  home  to  glory.  To 
the  humble  saint  death  is  not  an  end  either  to  be  avoided 
or  to  be  desired,  for  when  the  time  comes  it  is  simply  a 
bridge  to  carry  him  over  the  Jordan. 

The  Old  Testament  is  temporal,  literal,  and  national; 
the  New  is  eternal,  spiritual,  and  individual, — the  law  of 
God  stamped  upon  the  heart  of  each  saint.  The  Old  was 
a  bondage  in  which  no  rest,  joy,  and  peace  could  be  found. 
It  was  a  revelation  of  death  involving  man  in  a  curse.  (2 
Cor.  iii.)  The  New  opened  up  to  man  all  the  blessings 
that  his  soul  could  long  for,  and  is  to  him  an  instrument 
of  life  and  delivery  from  the  curse.  The  Old  was  a  min- 
istry of  condemnation ;  the  New,  a  ministry  of  righteous- 
ness. 

The  Old  constrained  to  action  by  external  force;  the 
New  incited  to  action  by  spontaneous  love  in  perfect  free- 
dom, love,  and  delight,  at  the  same  time  imparting  the 
Grace  by  which  the  soul  is  sustained.  The  Law  was  to 
educe  from  man  what  he  was  to  God;  Grace  was  to 
manifest  what  God  is  to  man. 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND  ITS  FUTURE  DESTINY. 

Aside  from  the  great  interest  connected  with  the  Hebrew 
nation  as  the  source  through  which  we  have  received  a 
Divine  Revelation,  its  history  has  a  strong  fascination 
arising  from  an  antiquity  extending  farther  back  in  the 
remote  ages  than  that  of  any  other  people.  In  reading, 
we  feel  assured  that  it  is  an  authentic  history,  whose  records 
are  based  on  substantial  foundations.  We  have  a  conscious- 
ness, dear  to  every  Christian  heart,  that  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ  rested  upon  and  was  developed  from  Jew- 
ish history.  This  consciousness  is  assured  not  only  by 
the  indisputable  facts  of  Revelation,  but  by  the  continued 
existence  of  the  Jewish  nation, — not,  indeed,  in  the  ordinary 
form  of  a  nation  possessing  an  objective  government,  but  in 
the  form  and  under  the  exact  conditions  which  had  been 
plainly  revealed  to  the  Jews  by  their  own  inspired  })rophets 
while  they  were  inheriting  their  own  promised  land.  Since 
the  destruction  of  their  Holy  City  they  have  lived  in  the 
world  and  among  other  nations  separate  and  alone.  At 
various  periods  of  their  history  they  have  come  into  close 
contact  with  other  nations,  have  mixed  with  them,  and  have 
lived  with  them  in  bondage,  but  have  never  become  iden- 
tified with  them  and  never  allowed  their  history  to  be  so 
blended  with  that  of  their  conquerors  that  they  could  not 
at  the  appointed  time  be  again  entirely  separated,  and  by 
some  inherent  principle  or  power  of  cohesion  at  once  form 
again  a  homogeneous  nation,  carrying  with  them  it  may  be 


64  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

some  of  the  ideas,  or  perhaps  the  vices,  of  their  oppressors, 
but  never  to  such  an  extent  tluit  the  peculiar  characteristics 
of  their  nationality  were  materially  changed.  Their  prin- 
ciples, hopes,  and  faith  are  as  strongly  and  apparently  as 
unchangeably  fixed  in  their  minds  as  the  peculiar  features 
of  countenance  are  marked  upon  their  faces.  Living  as  they 
do  in  every  part  of  the  civilized  world,  holding  constant 
business  communication  with  the  people  among  whom  they 
dwell,  having  nothing  that  can  be  recognized  as  a  national 
or  ecclesiastical  head,  apparently  nothing  that  could  cherish 
or  maintain  State  and  Church  politics,  adapting  themselves, 
as  far  as  may  be  necessary,  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
country  where  they  sojourn,  they  do  still,  to-day,  maintain 
in  greater  or  less  purity  the  distinctive  principles  of  their 
faith  and  practice,  and  do  still  draw  strength,  comfort,  and 
consolation  from  the  inspired  words  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah, 
and  still  look  forward  with  unshaken  faith  to  the  full  and 
literal  fulfilment  of  the  covenant  which  Jehovah  made  with 
their  progenitor  Abraham.  Their  continued  separate  ex- 
istence, despite  of  political  and  national  annihilation  and  a 
continuous  persecution  such  as  no  other  people  on  earth  ever 
suffered  for  so  long  a  period  and  in  such  varied,  far-reach- 
ing forms,  is  unparalleled  in  human  history.  Other  nations 
conquered  by  superior  force  have  under  similar  circum- 
stances maintained  their  primitive  character  for  a  few  gen- 
erations at  most  and  then  gradually  faded  away,  leaving 
some  names  and  words  as  the  only  memorials  of  their  ex- 
istence ;  but  the  Jews  of  the  present  age,  having  lived  for 
nineteen  hundred  years  "  without  a  king,  and  without  a 
prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice,  and  without  an  image,  and 
without  an  ephod,  and  without  teraphim,''  or  any  of  the 
essentials  of  a  nation  and  Church,  do  to-day  stand  in  a  posi- 
tion to  respond  to  the  call  of  any  leader  whose  credentials 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINY.  65 

would  assure  them  of  a  Divnue  commission.  Let  us  not  sny 
tliat  the  "  age  of  miracles''  is  past,  for  the  continued  ex- 
istence of  the  Jewish  nation  is  an  ever-present  miracle. 
Its  past,  present,  and  future  history  has  formed,  and  will 
continue  to  form,  one  of  the  most  wonderful  and  far-ex- 
tending displays  of  supernatural  power  that  has  ever  been 
manifested  on  the  earth. 

Instructive  and  interesting  as  would  be  the  consideration 
of  the  causes  which  led  to  and  produced  the  dispersion  of 
the  Jews  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  as  they  are  recorded 
in  the  Old  Testament  and  abundantly  confirmed  by  the 
actual  facts  of  history,  the  whole  subject  must  take  its  place 
among  the  fulfilled  prophecies  of  Scripture,  and  the  atten- 
tion be  directed  to  their  future  destiny  as  it  is  predicted  by 
the  same  prophets  who  so  truly  announced  their  degradation 
and  suffering.  The  more  carefully  the  passages  of  Scripture 
relating  to  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  are  studied,  the  more 
apparent  will  be  the  truth  that  the  hope  of  the  Church — the 
glorious  appearing  of  the  Saviour — is  closely  united  with 
God's  purpose  of  good  to  His  ancient  people,  and  that  in 
the  latter  days  when  by  His  love  they  shall  be  turned  from 
sin  and  unbelief  to  righteousness  and  faith  and  established 
in  honor  and  glory  in  their  own  land,  with  Christ  as  their 
personal  King,  this  royal  people,  now  too  generally  re- 
garded as  the  offscouring  of  the  earth,  wall  be,  as  was 
promised,  a  blessing  to  all  the  families  of  the  earth,  and 
inheritors  of  a  glory  and  dignity  far  surpassing  that  of  any 
Gentile  potentates.  While  the  declarations  of  Jehovah 
"of  the  things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass"  have 
great  significance  to  the  Christian  who  believes  that  the 
promised  Messiah  has  once  lived  on  the  earth,  to  the  pious 
Jew  they  must  have  an  intensity  and  force  of  meaning  far 
beyond  our  conception.     They  are  part  of  his  inner  life. 


66  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

the  basis  of  all  his  hopes,  the  consummation  of  all  his  devout 
desires.  They  may  be  regarded  by  us  as  types  and  symbols, 
or  as  records  of  that  with  which  we  have  no  personal  con- 
cern, but  to  the  Jew  they  are  still  the  ^^  oracles  of  God/' 
instinct  and  throbbing  with  life,  a  sacred  trust  committed 
to  him  by  the  great  Jehovah. 

It  is  not  the  present  purpose  to  quote  all  or  even  a  large 
portion  of  the  many  chapters  of  the  Old  Testament  which 
?o  clearly  predict  the  future  glory  and  happiness  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  but  to  select  from  the  many,  some  that  more 
definitely  than  others  declare  the  manifest  intent  of  God. 

As  it  is  a  fact  that  the  descendants  of  Abraham  are  now 
scattered  over  all  the  earth,  so  it  is  plain  that  they  shall  be 
gathered  from  all  lands  and  restored  to  their  own  country. 
Isaiah  declares:  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day, 
that  the  Lord  shall  set  his  hand  again  the  second  time  to 
recover  the  remnant  of  his  people  which  shall  be  left  from 
Assyria,  and  from  Egypt,  and  from  Pathros,  and  from  Gush, 
and  from  Elam,  and  from  Shinar,  and  from  Hamath,  and 
from  the  islands  of  the  sea.  And  he  shall  set  up  an  ensign 
for  the  nations,  and  shall  assemble  the  outcasts  of  Israel, 
and  gather  together  the  dispersed  of  Judah  from  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth J^  (Chap.  xi.  11,  12.)  Jeremiah  says: 
**At  that  time  they  shall  call  Jerusalem  the  throne  of  the 
Lord,  In  those  days  the  house  of  Judah  shall  walk  with 
the  house  of  Israel,  and  they  shall  come  together  out  of  the 
land  of  the  North  to  the  land  that  I  have  given  for  an  in- 
heritance unto  your  father s.^^  (Chap.  iii.  17, 18.)  And  again 
it  shall  be  said :  "  The  Lord  liveth,  that  brought  up  the 
children  of  Israel  from  the  land  of  the  North,  and /rom  all 
the  lands  whither  he  had  driven  them :  and  I  will  bring 
them  again  into  their  land  that  I  gave  unto  their  fathers.'' 
(Chap.  xvi.  15.)     ^'  And  I  will  gather  the  remnant  of  my 


THE  JEWISH   NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINY,  67 

flock  Old  of  all  countries  whither  I  have  driven  them,  and 
will  bring  them  again  to  their  folds,  and  they  shall  be  fruit- 
ful and  increase.'^  (Chap,  xxiii.  3.)  ^'  Hear  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  O  ye  nations,  and  declare  it  in  the  isles  afar  oif,  and 
say.  He  that  scattered  Israel  will  gather  him  and  keep  him 
as  a  shepherd  his  flock."  (Chap.  xxxl.  10.)  In  Zechariah 
we  read  :  "And  when  I  shall  have  scattered  them  among 
the  people,  they  will  remember  me  among  the  far-ofl*  coun- 
tries :  therefore  shall  they  live  with  their  children  and  re- 
turn again,  and  I  will  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  out  of  Assyria  will  I  gather  them  :  and  into  the  land 
of  Gilead  and  Lebanon  will  I  bring  them,  and  it  shall  not 
be  sufficient  for  them."*  (Chap.  x.  9, 10.)  In  these  and  in 
many  other  passages  three  facts  are  prominent, — that  by 
Divine  purpose  and  power  the  Jews  have  been  scattered  in 
all  lands ;  that  by  the  same  power  they  shall  again  be 
gathered ;  and  that  they  shall  dwell  in  the  land  given  to 
their  fathers,  Palestine.  The  statements  are  clear,  plain, 
and  literal.  Any  process  which  would  spiritualize  such 
declarations  must  conflict  with  the  ordinary  rules  of  bib- 
lical interpretation  and  result  in  disastrous  confusion.  In 
the  study  of  this  as  of  any  other  line  of  scriptural  truth, 
the  intent  of  any  particular  passage  becomes  more  evident 
by  the  reading  of  the  whole  paragraph,  or  even  book,  in 
which  the  text  occurs. 

Strange  as  it  may  appear,  those  who  have  despised  the 
Jews  shall,  at  the  time  of  their  restoration,  treat  them  with 
respect  and  bear  a  willing  part  in  advancing  the  purpose 
of  God.     Isaiah  says,  "  Thus  saitli  the  Lord  Eternal,  Be- 

^  Some  of  the  passages  are  quoted  from  Isaac  Leeser's  *'  Twenty- 
four  Books  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  according  to  the  Massoretic  text, 
after  the  best  Jewish  Authorities."  This  fact  accounts  for  some 
slight  variations  from  our  accepted  English  version. 


g3  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

hold,  I  will  lift  up  to  the  nation  my  hand,  and  to  the  peo- 
ple will  I  raise  up  high  my  standard :  and  they  shall 
bring  thy  sons  in  [their]  arms,  and  thy  daughters  shall  be 
carried  upon  shoulders.  And  kings  shall  be  thy  nursing 
fathers,  and  princesses  thy  nursing  mothers:  with  the  face 
toward  the  earth  shall  they  bow  down  to  thee,  and  the  dust 
of  thy  feet  shall  they  lick  up.''  (Chap.  xlix.  22,  23.) 
When  the  day  shall  come,  many  will  gladly  share  in  their 
blessing :  "  For  the  Lord  will  have  mercy  on  Jacob,  and 
will  again  make  choice  of  Israel,  and  replace  them  in  their 
own  land :  and  the  strangers  shall  be  joined  unto  them, 
and  they  shall  attach  themselves  to  the  house  of  Jacob." 
(Isaiah  xiv.  1.)  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last 
days  .  .  .  many  people  shall  go  and  say,  Come  ye,  and  let 
us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to  the  house  of  the 
God  of  Jacob ;  that  He  may  teach  us  of  His  ways,  and  we 
may  walk  in  His  paths."  (Isaiah  ii.  3.)  "And  many  peo- 
ple and  strong  nations  shall  come  to  seek  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
in  Jerusalem,  and  to  pray  before  the  Lord."  (Zech.  viii. 
22.) 

While  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  may  be  in  one  sense 
the  result  of  the  natural  laws  of  God's  providential  deal- 
ings with  mankind,  there  are  many  passages  warranting 
the  belief  that  it  will  be  attended  with  unusual  and  miracu- 
lous displays  of  Divine  power;  for  Michah,  in  speaking  of 
the  "  flock  of  God's  heritage"  feeding  "  in  Bashan  and 
Gilead,  as  in  the  days  of  old,"  says,  "  As  in  the  days  of 
thy  coming  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  ivill  I  let  them  see 
marvellous  thingsJ'  (Chap.  vii.  15.)  Isaiah  declares  that 
"  the  Lord  will  utterly  destroy  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian 
sea;  and  He  will  swing  His  hand  over  the  river  with  His 
mighty  wind,  and  will  smite  it  into  the  seven  streams,  and 
render  it  passable  with  shoes ;  and  there  shall  be  a  highway 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND  ITS  DESTINF.         69 

for  the  remnant  of  His  people,  which  shall  remain  from 
Asshur;  like  as  it  was  to  Israel  on  the  day  that  they  came 
up  from  the  land  of  Egypt."  (Chap.  xi.  15,  16.)  They 
shall  have  a  leader  divinely  commissioned  :  "  Behold  I  send 
unto  you  Elijah  the  prophet  before  the  coming  of  the  day 
of  the  Lord,  the  great  and  the  dreadful :  and  he  shall  turn 
back  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  and  the 
hearts  of  the  children  to  their  fathers."  (Mai.  iii.  23,  24.) 
Isaiah  gives  us  a  record  of  miracles  that  will  be  coincident 
with  the  return  of  the  ransomed  to  Zion  :  "  The  blind  eyes 
shall  be  opened,  the  deaf  ears  unstopped,  the  lame  leap, 
the  dumb  sing:  waters  break  out  in  the  wilderness,  and 
brooks  in  the  desert,  sandy  wastes  be  changed  into  pools, 
and  thirsty  lands  into  springs  of  water  :  all  ravenous  beasts 
will  disappear;  joy  and  gladness  shall  be  the  portion  of 
His  people,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away."  (Chap. 

XXXV.) 

A  civil  polity  resembling' the  ancient  regime^  with  coun- 
sellors and  judges,  will  be  established,  with  Christ  as  their 
personal  King.  In  the  first  chapter  of  Isaiah,  the  Eternal 
of  hosts  declares  that,  after  having  taken  satisfaction  on 
their  enemies  and  purged  His  people  from  dross.  He 
"will  restore  thy  judges  as  at  the  first,  and  thy  counsellors 
as  at  the  beginning"  (verse  26) ;  and  in  the  twenty-third 
chapter,  "  And  I  will  raise  up  over  them  shepherds  who 
shall  feed  them  :  and  they  shall  fear  no  more,  nor  be  dis- 
mayed, and  none  of  them  shall  be  missing.  Behold,  days 
are  coming,  saith  the  Lord,  wlien  I  will  raise  up  unto  David 
a  righteous  sprout,  and  he  shall  reign  as  King,  and  prosper, 
and  he  shall  execute  justice  and  righteousness  on  the  earth." 
(Verses  4,  5.)  "  And  they  shall  serve  the  Lord  their  God, 
and  David  their  King,  whom  I  will  raise  up  unto  them." 
(Jer.  XXX.  9.)     In  that  sublime  and  glowing  prediction  of 


70  THI^'GS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

the  future  glory  of  his  nation  written  in  chap.  Ix.  16, 
Isaiah  reaches  the  highest  point  in  the  declaration  :  "And 
thou  shalt  know  that  I  the  Lord  am  thy  Saviour,  and 
thy  Redeemer,  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob."  Ezekiel,  too, 
gives  clear  testimony  on  this  point:  "And  my  serv^ant 
David  sliall  be  King  over  them  ;  and  one  Shepherd  shall  be 
for  them  all :  .  .  .  and  David  my  servant  shall  be  Prince 
^nto  them  forever.''  (Chap,  xxxvii.  24,  25.)  Hosea,  also, 
declares  that  after  the  many  days  of  dispersion  and  desola- 
tion "  will  the  children  of  Israel  return,  and  seek  for  the 
Lord  their  God,  and  David  their  King;  and  fearing  will 
they  hasten  to  the  Lord,  and  to  His  goodness  in  the  latter 
days."  (iii.  5.) 

If  the  passages  already  quoted  do  clearly  set  forth  the 
facts  that  the  Lord  by  His  mighty  power  will  gather  the 
Jews  again  into  their  own  land  and  re-establish  a  Theocracy 
of  wdiich  Christ  will  be  the  head,  it  must  follow  as  a  nat- 
ural consequence  that  the  position  of  the  nation  among 
other  nations  of  the  earth  w^ill  be  unique  and  peculiar,  re- 
sembling in  some  respects  the  position  held  by  it  in  the 
ancient  days,  with,  however,  this  great  difference, — that  in 
the  future  or  "  latter  days"  it  will  be  the  source  of  blessing 
to  all  people,  and  thus  in  the  most  complete  sense  fulfil 
God's  promise  to  Abraham.  All  their  high  privileges  of 
their  former  days  shall  be  enjoyed  again,  "  for  I  will  have 
mercy  upon  them,  and  they  shall  be  as  though  I  had  never 
cast  them  o^."  (Zech.  x.  6.)  A  remarkable  passage  worthy 
of  careful  study  is  found  in  Zechariah  (xii.  7,  8) :  "  The 
Lord  also  will  save  the  tents  of  Judah  first,  in  order  that 
the  glory  of  the  house  of  David  and  the  glory  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  shall  not  become  boastful  over 
Judah.  On  that  day  will  the  Lord  be  a  shield  around  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem;  and  the  feeblest  among  them  shall 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINY.  71 

be  on  that  day  like  David  ;  and  the  house  of  David  shall  be 
like  divine  beings,  like  an  angel  of  the  Lord  before  themJ^ 
The  privilege  of  an  Israelite  being  hereditary,  a  divinely- 
conferred  birtliright,  all  will  enjoy  it.  It  will  be  not  only 
national,  but  individual  and  particular. 

In  the  full  favor  of  Jehovah  they  "  shall  be  in  the  midst 
of  many  people  like  dew  from  the  Lord,  like  showers  upon 
the  herbs  that  wait  not  for  man,  nor  hope  for  the  sons  of 
man.''  Their  enemies  shall  not  be  able  to  stand  against 
them,  for  they  "shall  be  among  the  nations  in  the  midst  of 
many  people  like  a  lion  among  the  beasts  of  the  forest, 
like  a  young  lion  among  flocks  of  sheep  :  who,  if  he  break 
in,  both  treadeth  down,  and  teareth  in  pieces,  while  none 
can  deliver"  (Michah  v.  6,  7),  and  even  more  emphatically 
in  the  succeeding  verse :  "  High  shall  thy  hand  be  lifted 
up  above  thy  adversaries,  and  all  thy  enemies  shall  be  cut 
off."  In  the  day  when  the  Lord  shall  save  them  as  the 
flock  of  His  people,  "  like  the  stones  of  a  crown  will  they 
elevate  themselves  over  His  land.  For  how  great  will  be 
the  happiness  of  that  generation  and  how  great  its  beauty  ! 
Corn  shall  make  the  young  men  sing  joyfully,  and  new 
wine  the  virgins."  (Zech.  ix.  16,  17.)  "No  weapon  that 
is  formed  against  thee  shall  prosper,  and  every  tongue  that 
will  rise  against  thee  in  judgment  thou  shalt  condemn." 
(Isaiah  liv.  17.) 

As  the  land  on  which  the  Jews  once  lived  has  been  a 
partaker  of  the  curse  pronounced  on  its  inhabitants,  it  will 
also  participate  in  the  blessing;  its  fertility  shall  return 
and  its  abundant  harvests  yield  food  to  the  thronging  mul- 
titudes :  "  Lo,  but  yet  a  very  little  while  more,  and  Leba- 
non shall  be  turned  into  a  fruitful  field,  and  the  fruitful 
field  shall  be  esteemed  as  a  forest."  (Isaiah  xxix.  17.) 
"  And  I  will  make  them  [the  wilderness  and  the  forests] 


72  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

and  tlie  environs  of  my  hill  a  blessing;  and  I  will  cause 
the  rain  to  come  down  in  its  season  ;  rains  of  blessing  shall 
they  be.  And  the  tree  of  the  field  shall  yield  its  fruit,  and 
the  earth  shall  yield  her  products,  and  they  shall  be  on 
their  land  in  safety."  (Ezek.  xxxiv.  26,  27.)  ^'Then 
shall  they  say.  This  land,  that  was  desolate,  is  become  like 
the  garden  of  Eden,  and  the  cities  that  were  ruined  and 
desolate  and  broken  down,  are  become  fortified  and  in- 
habited." (xxxvi.  35.)  Amos  gives  us  a  graphic  picture  of 
the  fertility  and  abundance  of  the  land  in  the  day  when 
the  tabernacle  of  David  shall  be  raised  up  and  rebuilt 
as  in  days  of  old:  "Behold,  days  are  coming,  saith  the 
Lord,  when  the  ploughman  shall  come  close  up  to  the  har- 
vester, and  the  treader  of  the  grapes  to  the  one  that  scat- 
tereth  the  seed;  and  the  mountains  shall  drop  with  new 
sweet  wine,  and  all  the  hills  shall  melt  away.  And  I 
will  bring  back  the  captivity  of  my  people  Israel,  and  they 
shall  build  the  wasted  cities,  and  dwell  therein  ;  and  they 
shall  plant  vineyards,  and  drink  their  wine ;  and  they  shall 
lay  out  gardens,  and  eat  their  fruit.  And  I  will  plant 
them  upon  their  own  soil,  and  they  shall  not  be  pulled 
up  any  more  out  of  their  land  which  I  have  given  unto 
them,  saith  the  Lord  thy  God."  (Chap.  ix.  13-15.)  Joel 
also  says,  "  Fear  not,  O  land ;  be  glad  and  rejoice;  for  the 
pastures  of  the  wilderness  have  become  green ;  for  the  tree 
beareth  its  fruit,  and  the  fig-tree  and  the  vine  yield  their 
strength.  And  the  threshing-floors  are  full  of  corn,  and 
the  vats  overflow  with  young  wine  and  oil."  (ii.  21,  22, 
24.) 

It  may  be  claimed  that  as  these  prophecies  are  essentially 
Jewish  in  character,  referring  to  and  embracing  only  the 
descendants  of  Abraham,  they  are  not  of  general  interest  to 
the  Church  of  Christ  or  the  w^orld  at  large.    To  the  Church 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINY.  73 

the  fulfilment  of  tliese  prophecies  will  be  the  fruition  of  all 
her  hopes, — the  coming  of  tlie  Lord.  To  the  nations  of 
the  world  their  fulfilment  will  be  the  beginning  of  the 
terrible  things  that  are  to  come  upon  the  earth  in  the  latter 
days.  Everywhere  in  the  Old  Testament  the  conversion 
of  the  Jews  and  their  restoration  to  their  own  land  are 
closely  connected  with  great  wars  and  confusion  among  the 
nations,  and  widespread  desolation  through  all  the  earth. 
Read  carefully  the  thirty-fourth  chapter  of  Isaiah,  with  its 
parallel  passages  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and 
learn  what  is  involved  in  ^'  the  day  of  vengeance  unto  the 
Lord,  and  the  year  of  recompense  for  the  controversy  of 
Zion.  .  .  .  Inquire  out  of  the  book  of  the  Lord  and  read" 
what  will  take  place  when  He  calls  all  nations  and  people 
and  the  earth  itself  to  hearken  and  hear.  Joel,  too,  is  clear 
and  explicit  in  his  declarations  of  what  shall  take  place  'Mn 
those  days  and  in  that  time  when  I  will  cause  to  return  the 
captivity  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,"  when  the  Lord  "  will 
assemble  all  nations,  and  hold  judgment  with  them  because 
of  my  people  and  my  heritage  Israel,  wdiom  they  have 
scattered  among  the  nations,  and  for  my  land  wdiich  they 
have  divided  out."  (iv.  1,  2.)  Zephaniah  also  reveals 
the  Divine  purpose :  "  Therefore  wait  but  for  me,  saitli 
the  Lord,  for  the  day  that  I  rise  up  to  the  prey,  for  my 
judgment  cometh  to  gather  the  nations,  for  me  to  assemble 
the  kingdoms,  to  pour  over  them  my  indignation,  all  the 
fierceness  of  my  anger;  for  through  the  fire  of  my  jealousy 
shall  all  the  earth  be  devoured."  (Chap.  iii.  8.)  The  restora- 
tion of  the  Jews  will  be  an  evident  and  public  fact,  claim- 
ing the  attention  of  other  nations,  and  attended  with  pun- 
ishment on  those  who  have  oppressed  them  :  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  Eternal,  AVhen  I  gather  the  house  of  Israel  from 
the  people  among  whom  they  are  scattered,  and  shall  be 


74  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

sanctified  on  them  before  the  eyes  of  the  nations,  then  shall 
they  dwell  in  the  land  that  I  have  given  to  my  servant 
Jacob;  they  shall  dwell  thereupon  in  safety  .  .  .  w^hen  I 
execute  judgments  on  all  those  that  despoiled  them."  (Ezek. 
xxviii.  25,  26.) 

The  bright  picture  of  peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness 
which  the  prophets  present  of  the  future  of  the  chosen 
people  is  not  without  dark  and  ominous  clouds.  It  does 
i!ot  fully  appear  that  their  restoration  to  their  own  land  and 
their  conversion  are  either  synonymous  or  identical.  On 
the  otlier  hand,  some  of  the  prophetic  declarations  seem  to 
refer  to  a  period  between  the  return,  or  at  least  a  partial 
restoration  and  their  conversion,  during  which  they  will 
undergo  a  process  of  discipline  and  purification  resembling 
in  its  severity  the  refining  of  gold  and  silver.  While  in 
many  cases  the  promises  of  the  regathering  of  Israel  would 
at  first  glance  seem  to  be  wholly  for  their  comfort  and  peace, 
yet  in  others  the  context  seems  to  connect  it  closely  with  a 
time  of  dreadful  distress,  corresponding  in  some  respects 
with  the  terrors  which  are  to  come  on  other  and  less-favored 
nations  of  the  earth.  In  the  thirtieth  cha})ter  of  Jeremiah, 
so  full  of  rich  promises  to  the  Jews,  and  of  threaten  in  gs  to 
their  oppressors,  after  a  statement  of  bringing  "again  the 
captivity  of  my  people  Israel  and  Judah"  to  the  land  of 
their  fathers,  the  Lord  speaks  concerning  them  :  "  A  voice 
of  terror  have  we  heard,  dread,  and  no  peace.  Ask  ye 
now,  and  see  whether  a  male  doth  give  birth  to  a  child  ? 
wherefore  do  I  see  every  man  with  his  hands  on  his  loins, 
as  a  woman  in  giving  birth  ?  and  why  are  all  faces  turned 
pale  ?  Alas  !  for  that  day  is  great,  there  is  none  like  it ; 
and  a  time  of  distress  it  is  unto  Jacob;  yet  out  of  it  shall 
he  be  saved."  Of  similar  import  is  the  passage  in  the 
twenty-second  chapter  of  Ezekiel  w^iere  God  speaks  of  the 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINY.  75 

nation  as  "copper  and  tin  and  iron  and  lead  in  the  midst 
of  the  furnace;  the  dross  of  silver  are  they  become;"  and 
declares,  ^'Because  ye  are  all  become  dross,  therefore  will  I 
gather  you  into  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  blow  upon 
them  with  the  fire  of  His  wrath,  will  melt  them  there  as 
silver  is  melted  in  a  furnace,  and  they  shall  know  that 
the  Lord  has  poured  out  His  fury  upon  them.'^  But  even 
more  remarkable  is  the  passage  in  the  fourth  chapter  of 
Michah,  where,  after  the  beautiful  picture  of  "  the  mountain 
of  the  Lord's  house  firmly  established  on  the  top  of  the 
mountains,"  the  nations  joining  restored  Israel,  the  preva- 
lence of  universal  peace,  when  "  they  shall  sit  every  man 
under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree,  with  none  to  make  them 
afraid,"  the  dark  cloud,  the  time  of  Jacob's  trouble,  sud- 
denly appears,  and  we  read,  "  Now  why  dost  thou  cry 
aloud?  is  there  no  king  in  thee?  is  thy  counsellor  lost? 
that  pangs  have  seized  on  thee  as  on  a  woman  with  child? 
Be  in  pain  and  labor  to  bring  forth,  O  daughter  of  Zion, 
like  a  woman  in  travail :  for  now  shalt  thou  go  forth  out  of 
the  town,  and  thou  shalt  dwell  in  the  field,  and  thou  shalt 
go  as  far  as  Babylon ;  there  shalt  thou  be  delivered."  An- 
other direct  reference  to  the  same  time  of  trouble  is  found 
in  Zech.  xiii.  8,  9  :  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  in  all 
the  land,  saith  the  Lord,  two  parts  therein  shall  be  cut  off, 
shall  perish  ;  but  the  third  part  shall  be  left  therein.  And 
I  will  bring  the  third  part  into  the  fire,  and  I  will  refine 
them  as  one  refineth  silver,  and  will  probe  them  as  gold  is 
probed."  On  this  very  important  part  of  Israel's  future 
destiny  the  reader  is  advised  to  read  Isaiah  li.  17-23;  lix. 
1-18  ;  Ezek.  xx.  32-37  ;  Joel  ii.;  Zeph.  i.  It  would  ap- 
pear that  this  trial  of  Israel  will  be  sharp,  fearful,  and  de- 
cisive, an  infliction  of  a  terrible  and  final  judgment  before 
their  acceptance  of  Christ.     In  the  same  connection  a  care- 


76  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

ful  study  of  one  of  the  most  comprehensive  discourses  of 
Christ,  as  it  is  given  by  ^latthew  (xxiv.  1-44),  may  tlirow 
some  light  on  propliecies  that  otherwise  might  be  obscure. 
If,  as  Lightl'oot  says,  the  New  Testament  was  written 
"among  Jews,  by  Jews,  fo^*  Jews/'  and  therefore  cannot 
but  speak  tb.e  language  of  the  time,  both  as  to  form  and 
to  contents,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  Matthew,  above  all 
his  fellow-apostles,  was  the  Jew  of  Jcavs,  having  a  mind  that 
seemed  not  to  possess  the  pow^r  of  receiving,  comprehend- 
ing, or  imparting  truth  unless  it  was  closely  related  to  the 
destiny  of  his  nation.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that 
while  this  wonderful  discourse  takes  in  the  destiny  of  the 
Jewish  remnant,  the  general  history  of  Christendom,  and 
the  judgment  of  the  nations,  it  does  not  include  or  refer 
to  the  Church.  The  great  trnth  of  a  Divine  Church — one 
body  com})ose(l  of  Jews  and  Gentiles — could  not  have  been 
and  was  not  announced  at  this  time,  because  the  Messiah 
had  not  yet  left  the  earth,  and  God,  in  the  Person  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  without  whose  presence  there  could  be  no 
Church,  had  not  descended  upon  the  earth.  If,  therefore, 
we  attempt  to  apply  the  teaching  of  our  Loixl  to  the  Church 
of  the  present  dispensation,  we  fail  to  grasp  the  truth  He 
intended  to  convey,  and  introduce  an  element  of  confusion 
that  Avill  make  its  reconcilement  with  many  other  passages 
difficult,  and  with  some  impossible.  The  Gospel  Dispensa- 
tion, with  its  resulting  Church,  finds  no  place  in  the  pro- 
phetic records,  for  it  is  an  interval,  a  break,  a  parenthesis, 
between  the  rejection  of  Christ  and  His  Second  Coming  to 
the  earth  to  receive  His  people  to  Himself.  The  time  for 
the  development  of  the  Christian  Church  had  not  yet  ar- 
rived, neither  was  its  existence  essential  or  in  any  way 
necessary  to  the  full  accomplishment  of  all  that  Christ  here 
revealed.     An  examination  of  the  teachintrs  of  Christ  in 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND  ITS  DESTINY.         77 

the  context — tlie  record  of  which  is  greatly  marred  by  the 
unfortunate  division  into  chapters — may  make  evident  the 
fact  that  in  answer  to  the  question  of  His  disciples,  "  Tell 
us  when  these  things  shall  be  ?"  Christ  sketched  for  them 
in  outline  the  future  history  of  the  Jews ;  or,  to  state  it  more 
particularly,  the  experience,  the  trials  and  destiny,  of  the 
faithful  remnant  of  Israel  that  will  be  left  on  the  earth 
during  the  interval  between  the  departure  of  the  Church 
from  the  world  and  the  final  consummation  of  all  things. 
Having  made  His  final  appeal  to  the  apostate  nation  of 
Israel,  He  "  went  out  and  departed  from  the  temple,'^  never 
again  to  enter  it,  and,  withdrawing  to  the  Blount  of  Olives 
with  His  disciples,  left  the  chosen  people  to  that  long  period 
of  darkness  and  desolation  just  about  to  close  in  upon  them. 
Away  from  the  multitudes,  in  confidential  discourse  with 
the  disciples.  He  foretold  the  trials  coming  upon  them,  and 
taught  them  that  although  He  would  be  rejected  by  the 
Jews  as  a  nation,  yet  He  would  in  the  last  times  gather 
about  Him  a  portion  of  His  "  brethren  according  to  the 
flesh,^^  who  would  be  the  successors  and  representatives  of 
the  few  faithful  ones  who  listened  to  His  words  on  the 
mountain.  They  listened  to  His  words,  but  they  did  not 
comprehend  them.  They  came  to  Jesus  "  for  to  show  Him 
the  buildings  of  the  temple."  Their  minds  were  filled  with 
what  was  dear  to  every  Jewish  heart,  and  occupied  with 
hopes  of  an  immediate  restoration  of  the  earthly  kingdom. 
The  warnings  they  had  already  received  that  their  leader 
should  be  delivered  to  the  Gentiles,  should  be  mocked, 
scourged,  and  crucified,  had  been  unheeded  because  they 
had  been  incomprehensible.  The  quotation  from  Daniel, 
in  the  fifteenth  verse,  with  which  they  were  familiar,  is  very 
specific,  and  makes  it  clear  that  His  reference  was  not  to 
the  destination  of  their  holy  city,  but  to  the  time  of  the 

6 


78  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

end,  when,  as  Daniel  declares,  "  Thy  people  shall  be  deliv- 
ered, every  one  that  shall  be  found  written  in  the  book." 
(Chap.  xii.  1.)  The  persons,  therefore,  addressed  were  Jew- 
ish believers,  those  who  accepted  Christ  when  He  was  with 
them  in  personal  form  on  the  earth,  and  those  who  in  the 
long  years  after — the  pious  remnant  of  Israel — should  ac- 
cept the  Messiah  whom  their  fathers  had  rejected.  To 
these  only  could  the  words  of  Christ  have  any  possible  ap- 
plication. Believers  under  the  Grace  dispensation  have  no 
part  in  this  discourse.  '^  This  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,"  to 
be  "  preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  to  all  nations," 
is  something  very  diiferent  from  "  the  Glorious  Gospel  of 
the  Grace  of  God,"  which  the  apostles  preached  after  Christ 
had  ascended  to  heaven  and  the  Holy  Ghost  had  taken  up 
its  abode  in  human  hearts.  This  distinction  must  be  made 
or  confusion  is  inevitable. 

After  this  digressive  examination  of  our  Lord's  statement 
of  the  future  history  of  the  faithful  portion  of  the  Jewish 
people,  corresponding  so  exactly  with  the  words  of  the  an- 
cient prophets,  it  would  be  well  to  learn  what  the  Old 
Testament  declares  with  reference  to  Christ  and  the  resto- 
ration of  the  Jews.  Take  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Isaiah 
(still  quoting  from  the  accepted  English  translation  of  the 
Hebrew  by  Isaac  Leeser),  beginning,  ^'  And  there  shall  come 
forth  a  shoot  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  sprout  shall 
spring  out  of  his  roots :  and  there  shall  rest  upon  him  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord,"  etc.,  and  the  tenth  verse,  ^'  And  it 
shall  happen  on  that  day,  that  He  of  the  root  of  Jesse,  who 
shall  stand  as  an  ensign  of  the  people,  to  Him  shall  nations 
come  to  inquire :  and  His  resting-place  shall  be  glorious," — 
and  we  have  a  description  of  Christ  as  He  was  on  the 
earth,  and  of  what  He  shall  be  when  He  "  puts  forth  His 
hand  again  the  second  time  to  acquire  the  remnant  of  His 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND   ITS   DESTINY.  79 

people."  Consult  also  Zech.  xiv.  1-21,  Ezek.  xxxvii., 
and  Zech.  xii.,  and  the  passages  already  quoted,  with  their 
parallel  texts,  and  there  will  be  found  abundant  evidence 
that  Christ  will  come  to  His  own  i)Cople  to  deliver  them 
from  all  oppressors,  lead  them  into  paths  of  truth  and 
righteousness,  unite  and  establish  all  the  tribes  in  their 
own  land,  make  the  city  of  Jerusalem  the  seat  of  univer- 
sal empire,  in  which  He  will  rule  as  their  Personal  King, 
and  make  the  Jews  to  be  a  blessing  to  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth. 

While  basing  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their  own 
land  on  the  fact  that  it  will  be  the  result  of  special  Divine 
agency  attended  with  miraculous  power,  it  is  yet  germane 
to  the  question  to  examine  the  present  situation  of  the  Jews 
Avith  reference  to  their  return  to  Palestine,  and  discover  the 
causes,  should  any  exist,  wdiich  may  tend  to  the  fulfilment 
of  prophecy  by  the  ordinary  and  natural  operations  of  God\s 
providence.  Believing  firmly  in  and  insisting  strongly  on 
the  truth  that  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews,  their  wonderful 
preservation  during  a  long  interval,  and  their  ultimate  res- 
toration are  only  the  separate  parts  of  a  revealed  purpose 
and  plan  of  Jehovah,  carried  on  in  a  manner  different 
from  His  general  overruling  and  guidance  of  the  nations, 
it  may  yet  be  profitable  to  consider  some  events  which  have 
transpired  during  the  last  ten  years  that  have  beyond  a 
doubt  influenced  the  return  of  many  Jews  from  all  parts 
of  the  w^orld,  but  more  especially  from  the  great  empire  of 
Russia. 

llev.  James  Neil,  whose  residence  for  some  years  as  in- 
cumbent of  Christ  Church  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  gave 
him  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  what  has  happened  in 
the  Holy  Land  and  grounds  for  an  intelligent  opinion,  de- 
clares in  the  most  positive  terms  that  there  are  now  to  be 


80  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

discerned  very  definite  signs  of  the  beginning  of  this  mo- 
mentous movement  in  the  return  of  the  Jews  before  tlieir 
conversion  in  very  considerable  numbers  to  their  own  land. 
He  gives  as  his  opinion,  based  not  only  upon  his  own  ob- 
servations on  the  spot,  but  also  upon  the  result  of  careful 
inquiries  made  of  many  unprejudiced  Jews,  that  the  Hebrew 
population  of  Palestine  proper,  one-half  of  which  resides 
jn  Jerusalem,  now  numbers  thirty  thousand,  to  which  must 
be  added  seven  to  eight  thousand  in  Sidon,  Beyrout,  and 
Damascus, — all  cities  within  the  Land  of  Promise.  If 
this  be  a  correct  calculation,  there  are  at  present  in  the 
Holy  Land  a  considerably  larger  number  of  Jews  than  of 
any  other  civilized  nation.  The  three  causes  which  Mr. 
Neil  believes  "  have  in  the  providence  of  God  mainly  con- 
tributed to  bring  about  this  marked  return  to  the  Land  of 
Promise  are,  first,  a  new  land  law  affecting  Palestine ; 
secondly,  new  laws  of  military  service  in  Russia;  thirdly, 
new  civilization  throughout  the  East."  Until  very  recently 
a  Jew,  or  indeed  any  foreigner,  could  not  have  a  valid  title 
to  Real  Estate  unless  he  became  a  Turkish  subject.  Above 
all  things  such  a  course  would  be  repugnant  to  the  Jews. 
In  June,  18G7,  an  Imperial  Rescript  gave  to  any  subjects 
of  foreign  powers  the  liberty  of  purchasing  and  holding 
landed  property  in  their  own  names.  As  a  natural  result 
of  this  new  and  liberal  legislation,  many  Jews  availed 
themselves  of  the  privilege,  and  purchased  land  in  and 
about  the  larger  cities.  In  a  short  time  there  sprang  up 
numerous  little  villages  or  communities  composed  exclu- 
sively of  Jews.  Their  remarkable  industry,  thrift,  and 
economy,  combined  with  consular  protection,  soon  placed 
these  people  in  positions  of  considerable  importance  in  the 
districts  where  they  settled.  The  great  bulk  of  the  resident 
inhabitants  of  Palestine  being  Moslem  Arabs,  ignorant  and 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINY.  gl 

in  every  way  unfitted  to  be  the  dominant  power  in  a  province, 
must  inevitably  yield  to  the  superior  intelligence  and  patient 
persistence  of  the  former  possessors  of  the  land.  Every 
year  the  increase  of  wealth  and  the  constant  additions  to 
their  numbers  add  to  their  power.  It  is,  therefore,  not  an 
extravagant  hope — it  may,  indeed,  be  regarded  as  an  in- 
evitable fact  resulting  from  the  operations  of  simple  natural 
laws — that  within  a  few  years  the  Jewish  inhabitants  of 
Palestine  will  have  attained  such  wealth  and  power  that  the 
province  will  be  virtually,  if  not  in  name,  in  their  full 
possession,  and  so  within  their  control  that  they  may  be 
able  to  dictate  terms  to  the  nominal  owners. 

It  is  said  by  those  who  have  made  the  most  careful  com- 
j)utations  that  at  least  one-third  of  the  Jewish  nation  (sup- 
posed to  number  in  all  about  eight  millions)  lives  within 
the  Russian  dominions.  For  many  years,  although  the 
constant  victims  of  oppression  and  persecution,  the  Jews 
have  been  practically  exempt  from  militjiry  service  in 
Russia,  the  number  impressed  having  been  only  five  to 
each  thousand.  In  1874,  Russia  adopted  the  German 
system,  and  all  Jews  throughout  the  empire  were  required 
to  be  enrolled  and  drilled  in  the  army  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  Whatever  may  be  the  reason,  it  is  a  fact  that  the 
Jews  in  all  parts  of  the  world  are  singularly  averse  to  mil- 
itary service.  With  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  many  griev- 
ous Avrongs  they  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  Russia,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  they  should  manifest  a  strong  reluctance 
to  fight  on  the  side  of  their  oppressors,  or  that  they  should 
take  immediate  steps  to  leave  the  country  in  spite  of  the 
most  despotic  laws  to  prevent  such  departure. 

In  addition  to  the  facilities  for  acquiring  land  in  Pales- 
tine and  the  dread  of  enforced  military  service  in  Russia, 
the  movement  of  a  new  civilization  in  Syria  presents  some 


82  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

attractions  that  will  exert  some  influence  on  European  Jews. 
Mr.  Neil  regards  the  labors  of  missionaries  from  England, 
Germany,  and  the  United  States,  with  the  presence  of  their 
wives  and  families,  as  a  potent  element  in  ameliorating  the 
condition  of  the  people,  and  thus  making  it  possible  for 
the  Jews  to  share  in  the  religious  toleration  and  freedom 
which  have  from  time  to  time  been  conceded  by  the  Turk- 
ish government.  He  also  claims  that  the  establishment  of 
good  schools  and  the  promotion  of  education  among  all 
classes  by  the  missionaries  have  compelled  the  bigoted 
Jews  to  open  and  maintain  schools  for  Jewish  girls  in  order 
to  keep  the  young  people  away  from  the  missionary  insti- 
tutions, and  thus  the  younger  generation  is  being  prepared 
for  the  great  work  before  it. 

The  establishment  in  Syria  of  Consulates  of  various 
civilized  nations,  whose  representatives  are  intrusted  with 
important  powers,  while  extending  protection  to  their  own 
people,  has  also  prevented  those  outbreaks  of  Moslem  fa- 
naticism and  cruelty  to  which  the  Jews  had  been  so  long 
exposed  ;  for  a  Jew  residing  in  Palestine  who  is  or  has 
been  a  subject  of  any  foreign  power  now  has  the  privilege 
of  demanding  trial  before  the  consul  of  the  country  where 
he  had  lived. 

Another  civilizing  element  worthy  of  notice  is  the  large 
and  constantly-increasing  number  of  visitors  travelling  in 
Palestine  during  the  pleasant  six  months  of  the  year,  for 
whose  comfort,  convenience,  and  safety  the  various  Euro- 
pean governments  have  made  ample  arrangements.  These 
tourists  expend  large  amounts  of  money,  so  that  their  pres- 
ence is  regarded  as  a  favor,  not  an  intrusion,  as  formerly. 
All  of  these  influences  combined  have  compelled  the  aban- 
donment of  many  annoying  regulations  formerly  rigidly  en- 
forced by  the  Turks,  so  that  the  whole  character  of  life  in 


THE  JJuWJSH   NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINV.  83 

Palestine  lias  been  greatly  modified,  the  })opiilacc  brought 
more  directly  under  refining  measures,  and  the  country 
rendered  more  tolerable, — at  least  as  a  place  of  residence  for 
Europeans.  All  the  advantages  resulting  from  the  power 
and  influences  of  the  leading  nations  of  Europe  are  open 
to  and  participated  in  by  Jews. 

One  remarkable  circumstance  mentioned  by  Sir  Moses 
Montefiore  in  his  "Narrative  of  a  Sojourn  in  the  Holy 
Land,"  in  1875,  would  seem  to  indicate  a  steady  and  grow- 
ing demand  for  dwelling-places  by  Jews.  He  states  that 
while  at  Jerusalem  he  received  from  the  Building  Commit- 
tee of  a  little  colony  called  Meah  Shearim  (Hundred  Gates) 
an  invitation  to  participate  in  the  ceremony  of  laying  the 
corner-stone  of  a  row  of  houses.  The  object  of  the  asso- 
ciation, numbering  one  hundred  and  twenty  members,  is  to- 
build  each  year  not  less  than  ten  dwelling-houses,  which, 
on  completion,  are  allotted  to  ten  members.  On  inquiry, 
he  learned  that  there  were  then  among  the  Jews  at  Jerusa- 
lem two  other  similar  Building  Associations,  the  practical 
combined  result  of  which  would  be,  that  "  in  a  very  few 
years  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  Hebrew  families  would 
be  the  owners  of  most  comfortable  houses  in  a  very  salu- 
brious locality  outside  the  city  limits." 

Even  more  significant  is  the  fact  that  the  Governments 
of  England  and  the  United  States  have,  within  a  few  years, 
sent  expeditions  to  explore  the  Holy  Land  and  obtain  de- 
tailed and  authentic  information  of  its  topography  and 
present  condition.  Such  expenditures  of  money  on  the 
part  of  associations  of  private  individuals  would  seem  to 
offer  some  return  in  definitely  fixing  the  localities  of  the 
Sacred  Text,  and  gaining  the  information  that  would  enable 
reverent  seekers  to  enjoy  the  results  of  scientific  search. 
But  an  Ordnance  Survey,  largely  assisted  by  governmental 


84  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

aiclj  is  an  unusual  proceeding,  for  which  a  very  clear  reason 
cannot  be  assigned.  These  things  are  all  evidences  of  a 
great  and  revived  interest  in  tlie  Holy  Land  and  the 
eTews,  that  at  present  seems  to  be  pervading  the  minds 
of  many  in  all  Christian  lands,  and,  taking,  as  it  does, 
a  practical  form,  may  with  great  reason  be  accepted  as 
the  precursor  of  the  restoration,  so  far  as  this  extraordi- 
nary prophetic  event  may  be  the  result  of  natural  causes. 
As  has  been  said,  "  those  who  assent  to  the  true  laws  of 
language  and  symbols  will  no  more  deny  or  doubt  that  the 
prophecies  teach  that  the  Israelites  are  to  be  restored,  than 
those  who  assent  to  the  definitions  and  axioms  of  geometry 
will  deny  the  demonstrations  that  are  founded  upon  them. 
There  is  not  a  proposition  in  the  w^hole  circle  of  human 
knowledge  of  more  perfect  certainty  than  that  God  has  re- 
vealed the  purpose  of  regathering  that  scattered  nation,  es- 
tablishing them  as  His  chosen  people,  and  reappointing  a 
temple-worship  at  Jerusalem  that  is  to  embrace  some  of 
their  ancient  rites.  It  is  not  merely  certain,  but  is  taught 
Avith  a  frequency,  an  emphasis,  and  an  amplitude,  and  in- 
vested with  a  dignity  and  grandeur,  that  are  proportionable 
to  the  vastness  and  wonderfulness  of  the  measure  in  the 
great  scheme  of  His  administration  over  the  world.'' 

Even  though  the  prophets  had  been  silent  concerning 
the  future  of  their  nation,  the  consideration  of  Jewish  his- 
tory during  the  last  nineteen  centuries,  an  examination  of 
the  indestructible  and  unsurmountable  barriers  which  have 
so  completely  separated  the  Jews  from  all  other  people 
on  the  earth,  the  fact  that  they  have  retained  all  of  their 
original  characteristics  wherever  they  have  been  scattered 
through  the  world,  and  have,  under  all  circumstances, 
maintained  the  spirit  of  a  religion  that  was  local  in  its 
character,  the  rites  of  which  could  only  be  properly  cele- 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINY.  85 

brated  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem, — all  combine  to  give  reasons 
for  the  belief  that  in  God's  providential  dealings  with  the 
nations  the  Jews  are  reserved  to  take  a  place  and  perform 
a  high  duty,  worthy,  in  all  respects,  of  the  people  of  whom, 
"according  to  the  flesh,^^  Christ  came.  The  natural  prin- 
ciples which  have  attended  the  development  and  decay  of 
other  nations  utterly  fail  to  account  for  their  wonderful 
continuance.  The  factors  of  destruction  in  the  history  of 
another  nation,  which  would  have  destroyed  every  trace  of 
national  existence  in  a  very  few  centuries, — conquest,  abro- 
gation of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  government,  slavery,  forci- 
ble removal  from  their  native  land,  dispersion  through  the  en- 
tire world,  bitter  and  relentless  persecution, — all  have  failed 
to  accomplish  the  results  which  to  human  view  seemed  both 
natural  and  inevitable.  The  causes  which  have  disinte- 
grated other  nations  and  in  time  scattered  the  fragments 
beyond  a  possibility  of  recognition,  seem  only  to  have 
strengthened  the  invisible  but  potent  influence  binding  the 
Jews  in  one  compact,  homogeneous  mass.  On  simply  nat- 
ural grounds  the  mysteries  and  problems  clustering  around 
Jewish  history  are  beyond  solution.  Accepting  what  we 
believe  to  be  a  scripturally-demonstrated  conclusion,  that 
from  the  time  of  Abraham,  the  Jews  have  been  the  chosen 
people  of  the  Lord, — the  subjects  of  a  miraculous  guidance 
and  care  so  steady  and  uniform  in  manifestation  that  they 
seem  to  take  a  place  among  the  ordinary  operations  or  de- 
velopments of  a  natural  law, — we  find  the  principle  which 
underlies  all  Jewish  history,  and  explains  what  would  oth- 
erwise be  so  perplexing.  Accepting  this  fact,  with  all  its 
involved  consequences,  we  can  confidently  look  to  that 
bright  future  of  the  nation  on  which  their  own  inspired 
men  have  so  delighted  to  dwell.  We  look  for  a  literal, 
personal,  and  national  restoration  of  the  ancient  people,  a 


SQ  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

re-establisliraent  of  their  former  glory,  an  exact  fulfilment  of 
))romises  of  peace,  plenty,  and  earthly  prosperity, — in  short, 
the  full  culmination  of  the  earthly  kingdom  of  Heaven  pre- 
dicted by  the  prophets  and  assured  by  the  words  of  Christ. 
It  is  passing  strange  that  so  many  Christians  will  read 
the  Divine  declarations  of  a  complete  dispersion  of  the 
Jews  in  their  literal  sense,  will  even  find  in  the  history  of 
the  race  facts  strengthening  their  faith  in  the  authenticity 
ot  the  Old  Testament,  but  yet,  at  the  same  time,  put  a 
spiritual  interpretation  upon  the  connected  promises  imme- 
diately following  in  terms  no  less  literal.  This  singular 
and  most  unreasonable  perversion  of  Scripture  truth,  has 
not  escaped  the  notice  of  that  acute  critic  and  profound 
Jewish  theologian,  J.  Cohen,  of  Paris,  who  says,  "And 
when  Christianity,  at  a  later  period,  abandoning  Judea  and 
Jerusalem  for  the  Rome  of  the  Caesars,  became  the  con- 
queror over  ancient  society,  and  assumed  the  organization 
and  development  which  seemed  unto  it  fit, — when  Chris- 
tianity was  no  longer  able  to  apply  literally  to  the  new  re- 
ligion the  predictions  of  the  prophets,  the  promises  of  the 
Holy  Book,  and  the  textual  expressions  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment,— it  nevertheless  preserved  and  combined  them  in  its 
dogmatic  phraseology  and  was  content  to  set  them  forth  in 
symbols.  Thus,  though  the  throne  of  David,  Jerusalem, 
and  the  nationality  of  Israel  were  engulphed  by  the  w^ars 
of  Roman  invasion  and  have  totally  disappeared,  the 
Christian  Church  maintains  that  they  still  exist,  but  trans- 
figured and  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  supernatural  myth. 
The  name  of  Israel  has  been  symbolically  given  to  the  as- 
sembly of  the  faithful  of  the  new  creed ;  a  heavenly  Jeru- 
salem has  replaced,  in  the  hopes  of  Christians,  the  earthly 
Jerusalem,  which,  according  to  the  Jewish  fidth,  is  yet  to 
become  the  centre  of  the  moral  world,  and  the  throne  of 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND   ITS  DESTINY.  87 

David    has  become    idealized  in  the  universal    empire  of 
Christianity/'     He  then  forcibly  remarks,  "  But,  whether 
symbol  or  reality,  it  is  not  the  less  true  that  the  whole 
world  has  existed  subject  to  the  influence  of  these  ideas 
and  words  of  essentially  Jewish  origin."     While  willingly 
admitting  his  claims  that  the  entire  domain  of  religion  has 
been  much  influenced  by  Judaism,  that  Christianity  has 
made  known  to  the  world  and  everywhere  taught  the  ad- 
mirable Psalms  of  his  nation,  that  Christian  ritual  has  been 
largely  borrowed  from  the  Old  Testament,  that  the  names 
of  the  patriarchs,  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  of  the  great  He- 
brew prophets,  are  everywhere  cited   amid   the  rites  and 
services  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  that  all  these  facts  do 
inseparably  connect  modern   times  with  the  imperishable 
remembrance  of  ihQ  exodus  from  Egypt,  yet  we  cannot 
allow  the  inference  based  upon  them,  that  the  Christian 
Church  owes  "its  splendor,  its  power,  and  universal  do- 
minion  to  Judaism."     Believers   in    Christ   have   appro- 
priated   much  that  is  eternal   and    true  in  Judaism,  and 
rightfully,  for  it  is  our  common  inheritance  through  the 
promised  Messiah,  who  hath  broken  down  the  wall  of  par- 
tition and  given  us  a  just  title  to  the  inestimable  privileges 
and  truths  which  hitherto  had  been  the  peculiar  possession 
of  the  favored  nation.     Surely  the  Jews  will  not  complain 
because  Christians  have  taken  hold  of  the  sublime  truths 
and  great  moral  principles  revealed  to  them  by  Jehovah, 
and  made  them  means  of  blessing  to  all  nations.     The  day 
will  come  when  they  themselves  will  be  the  missionaries  to 
"  the  isles  afar  off*  which  have  not  heard  my  name,"  and 
shall  preach  these  same  truths  with  a  power  and  success 
probably  far  exceeding  any  that  has  hitherto  been  granted 
to  the  Christian  Church.     The  Christian  Church  has  taken 
from  Judaism  some  features  and  ideas  not  in  accordance 


«8  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

with  the  fuller  revelation  of  truth  received  from  its 
Founder  and  Head.  It  has  so  accepted  the  Law  given  to 
the  Jews  while  under  tutorage  and  training,  that  it  has 
failed  to  appreciate  the  blessing,  the  freedom,  the  full  justi- 
fication, belonging  and  extended  to  all  who  by  faith  in 
Christ  would  ^^  be  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature."  Its 
devotion  to  the  Law  has  been  so  constant  that  its  "  whole 
life  has  been  enwrapped  in  a  network  of  prescriptions  gov- 
erning every  moment,  every  impulse,  every  action."  It 
has  substituted  the  Law,  a  series  of  mechanical  commands 
and  prohibitions,  lifeless  and  useless  in  themselves,  for  that 
love  of  Christ  and  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  constrain- 
ing us  to  crucify  the  flesh  with  its  lusts  and  affections,  and 
thus,  by  a  Divine  power  and  ever-present  impulse,  not 
only  fulfilling  the  Law  in  its  true  meaning  and  broadest 
scope,  but  going  far  beyond  the  requirements  involved  in  a 
fixed  and  arbitrary  rule.  For  the  Jews — those  who  rejected 
Christ — the  Mosaic  Law  has  not  been  abrogated.  To  it 
they  still  cling,  and  for  them  it  may  have  rich  blessings  in 
store.  But  it  is  their  heritage,  and  there  may  be  lodged  in 
it  a  hidden  meaning  and  abundant  excellence  which  will  be 
manifested  only  during  the  personal  reign  of  the  Messiah 
on  earth,  when  He  shall  have  gathered  His  ow^n  into  their 
Holy  City.  May  there  not  be  in  the  sacrifices  and  cere- 
monials, which  in  former  days  so  significantly  pointed  for- 
ward to  the  life,  sufferings,  and  death  of  the  Messiah,  a 
secret  spirit  and  reserved  force,  by  which  they  may  in  the 
future  point  back  to  the  finished  work,  and  thus  equally 
serve  two  purposes, — prophetic  and  commemorative? 
While  there  will  be  no  more  offering  for  sin,  yet  the 
words  of  Isaiah,  "  that  all  the  flocks  of  Kedar  shall  be 
assembled  unto  Thee,  the  rams  of  Nebaijoth  shall  min- 
ister unto  Thee :    they  shall  come  for  a  favorable  accep- 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND  ITS  DESTINY.  89 

tance  upon  my  altar,  and  the  house  of  my  glory  will  I 
glorify"  (Ix.  7),  point  directly  both  to  a  Temple  and  a 
ritual  of  sacrifice  akin  to  those  of  the  former  days,  and 
give  abundant  evidence  that  Christ  will  come  to  His  own 
people,  be  joyfully  accepted  as  their  King,  and  lead  them 
into  the  full  possession  of  promised  blessing. 

Considering  that  the  words  of  the  prophets  were  almost 
exclusively  devoted  to  the  future  destiny  of  the  Jewish 
nation, — that  anything  relating  to  other  nations  came  in 
incidentally,  as  it  were, — and  divesting  the  mind  of  the 
mistaken  idea  that  these  bright  pictures  have  any  reference 
to  the  Ciiurch  of  Christ  existing  under  the  present  Grace 
dispensation,  let  us  endeavor,  even  at  the  risk  of  repetition, 
to  gain  some  definite  and  literal  idea  of  the  future  in  store 
for  the  chosen  people.  With  these  two  principles  in  view, 
the  reader  of  the  Old  Testament  may  well  be  astonished  at 
the  multiplicity  of  promises  that  are  scattered  on  every 
page,  and  amazed  at  the  minuteness  and  exactness  of  detail 
which  characterize  them.  While  there  are  many  pointed 
texts  in  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Deuteronomy  declaring 
God's  love  for  and  care  over  Israel,  with  intimations,  more 
or  less  clear,  of  the  high  position  the  nation  will  take  '^  in 
the  latter  days,"  the  same  truths  are  more  fully  devel- 
oped by  the  Prophets  and  the  authors  of  the  first  three 
Gospels,  and  are  abundantly  confirmed  and  verified  in  all 
their  far-reaching  influences  in  the  Apocalypse.  Although 
the  Apostles,  after  the  resurrection  and  ascension  of  Christ, 
wrote  with  special  reference  to  the  Church  which  He  estab- 
lished, yet  in  the  Epistles  we  find  hints  of  the  close  con- 
nection between  the  future  of  Israel  and  the  comino;  of  the 
King, — that  coming  of  the  Lord  for  His  saints  previous 
to  those  remarkable  and  stupendous  events  which  are  sub- 
jects of  prophecy. 


90  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

In  St.  Paul's  clear  and  logical  presentation  of  the  condi- 
tion and  future  of  his  brethren,  as  affected  by  the  Gospel 
which  he  preached,  recorded  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
chapters  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  the  expression  in 
the  fifteenth  verse,  "  For  if  tlie  casting  away  of  them  be 
the  reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of 
them  be  but  life  from  the  dead?''  is  replete  with  vital 
meaning,  and  opens  up  a  resurrection  which  will  be  a  cause 
or  rejoicing  to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Look- 
ing at  the  Jews  as  the  "  brethren'^  of  the  Lord,  it  may  be  a 
question  whether  the  love  and  devotion  which  the  Christian 
Church  has  professed  for  the  Master  have  been  genuine 
when  unaccompanied  by  a  corresponding  love  and  affection 
for  those  to  whom  His  heart  went  out  with  such  tender 
sympathy.  It  is  surely  a  most  favorable  sign  that  within 
the  last  twenty-five  years  many  thoughtful  men  in  all  parts 
of  Christendom  have  awakened  to  the  consciousness  that 
the  fruition  of  the  hope  of  the  Church  is  closely  related  to 
the  future  of  the  elect  people  of  God. 

The  prophecies  of  Daniel,  who,  above  all  others,  was  the 
prophet  of  the  Jews,  give  the  general  outline  of  future 
events  on  the  earth  as  far  as  they  relate  to  kingdoms  and 
nations,  for  to  him  the  Lord  declared,  ^'Now  I  am  come  to 
make  thee  understand  what  shall  befall  thy  people  in  the 
latter  days,''  and,  that  it  was  not  for  the  immediate  time, 
the  statement  is  added, ''  For  the  vision  is  yet  for  the  coming 
time."     (Daniel  x.  14.) 

While  the  future  was  opened  to  him,  he  does  not  enter 
upon  the  reign  of  glory  of  his  people.  He  only  comes,  as 
it  were,  to  the  threshold,  to  that  time  when  "  Michael  the 
great  Prince  shall  stand  forth  for  the  children  of  His 
people."  He  sees  in  vision  the  "time  of  distress,  such  as 
hath  never  been  since  the  existence  of  any  nation,  until 


THE  JEWISH  NATION  AND  ITS  DESTINY.  91 

that  same  time;"  he  has  the  assurance  that  ^'at  that  time 
his  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be  found 
written  in  the  book;"  he  learns  that  some  of  his  brethren 
"  shall  awake  to  everlasting  life  and  some  to  disgrace  and 
everlasting  abhorrence;"  and  he  catches  some  glimpses  of 
the  glory  that  is  to  be  their  portion  when  "the  intelligent 
shall  shine  brilliantly  like  the  brilliance  of  the  expanse  of 
the  sky,"  and  of  the  mission  in  which  they  will  be  em- 
ployed, for  "  they  that  bring  many  to  righteousness  shall  be 
like  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever."  (Daniel,  chap,  xii.) 
Seeing  and  learning  so  much  of  the  future  of  his  people, 
the  prophet  naturally  cries  out,  '^O  my  Lord,  what  shall 
be  the  end  of  these  things?"  but  the  only  response  is,  "  Go 
thy  way,  Daniel !  for  the  words  are  closed  up  and  sealed  till 
the  end  of  the  time,"  with  the  final  injunction  and  promise, 
'^  But  thou,  go  thy  way  toward  the  end ;  and  thou  shalt 
rest,  and  arise  again  for  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days." 

In  whatever  may  have  been  revealed  to  Daniel  and 
Matthew  of  the  future  of  their  beloved  nation,  there  is  no 
evidence  that  either  had  any  conception  of  a  future  spiritual 
Gospel  dispensation.  The  range  of  their  prophetic  vision 
passed  over  that  elective  dispensation  of  God's  Grace  dur- 
ing which,  for  a  specific  purpose  connected  with  His  ulti- 
mate glory,  God  would  gather  a  people  for  His  name,  and 
fixed  upon  that  point  when  Messiah  would  rule  over  the 
house  of  Jacob  and  the  glory  of  their  nation  would  be 
manifested  on  the  earth,  when  Israel  would  be  central  sun 
of  all  nations.  Everywere  in  the  Old  Testament  we  find 
prophecies  of  the  King  who  is  to  rule  over  the  Jews,  under 
whose  sway  the  nation  shall  prosper  abundantly  and  bear 
dominion  over  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  but  it  was  not 
revealed  to  the  Jews  that  during  the  long  period  of  their 
shame,  following  the  advent  of  the  Messiah  and  their  re- 


92  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

jectlon  of  Him,  that  a  people  would  be  taken  from  among 
the  Gentiles  who  should  reign  with  Christ  in  His  spiritual 
kingdom.  This  was  the  mystery  hidden  until  the  Spirit 
revealed  it  by  the  Apostles. 

While  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  a  glorious 
future  is  in  store  for  the  Jews,  it  would  not  be  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  endeavor  to  fix  the  time  when,  as  a  nation,  they 
will  enter  upon  it  or,  even  with  the  specific  details  recorded 
in  Scripture,  to  attempt  to  forecast  its  conditions.  The 
book  is  sealed,  and  so  it  must  remain  until  the  time  of  the 
end.  But  our  faith  in  the  future  of  the  saints  is  not  more 
surely  or  more  scripturally  based,  than  our  faith  in  the 
future  glory  and  happiness  of  God's  chosen  people, — the 
Jews. 


THE  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

In  every  system  of  religion,  even  in  those  which  are  the 
products  of  unenb'ghtened  human  reason,  there  may  be  found 
one  grand  central  idea  or  truth,  with  which  all  the  others 
are  so  intimately  connected,  that  its  comprehension  and 
acceptance  are  essential  to  the  understanding  of  the  whole 
philosophy.  It  is  the  pivotal  point  about  which  the  sub- 
ordinate truths  revolve,  the  key  which  opens  many  con- 
fusing mysteries,  the  foundation-principle  without  which 
there  can  be  no  logical  consistency.  When  it  is  firmly  es- 
tablished all  the  other  dogmas,  with  their  practical  results, 
rest  securely  upon  it.  If  it  be  based  upon  the  shifting 
sands  of  falsehood,  the  superstructure,  however  fair  and 
substantial  in  appearance,  must  topple  and  fall  into  ruins. 

Such  a  broad,  wide-reaching,  and  well-defined  principle 
we  find  in  the  Gospel  of  Grace,  in  the  simple  fact  plainly 
stated  by  Christ,  and  fully  expanded  by  His  Apostles,  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  come  again, — that  at  some  future 
period  He  will  leave  the  Father's  Throne  and  come  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  to  receive  His  people  to  Himself,  to  ex- 
ecute judgment  on  all  evil,  and  to  establish  His  own  uni- 
versal and  everlastino;  Kino^dom. 

This  coming  of  the  Lord  is  placed  before  the  Christian 
as  an  object  of  faith  and  hope,  closely  bound  up  with  and 
powerfully  influencing  all  that  concerns  his  life  on  earth. 
It  is  not  placed  before  him  as  an  idea  with  which  he  has 
no  personal  practical  interest,  but  it  is  constantly  assumed 
and  referred  to  in  Scripture  as  an  encouragement  to  duty 

7  93 


94  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

and  an  incentive  to  perseverance  in  tlie  Christian  life. 
While  the  fact  itself  must  take  its  place  in  unfulfilled 
prophecy,  our  faith  in  the  second  coming  of  Christ  rests 
upon  the  same  solid  foundation  that  it  has  for  accepting 
the  predictions  and  the  accomplishment  of  His  incarnation 
and  crucifixion,  or  for  the  descent  and  continued  presence 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  recorded  facts  of  the  life,  death, 
resurrection,  and  ascension  of  our  Lord  are  not  sustained 
by  more  indubitable  proofs,  or  more  worthy  of  our  hearty 
acceptance  than  is  the  cognate  fact  that  He  will  personally, 
actually,  and  literally  come  from  Heaven  to  earth,  and  take 
to  Himself  the  power  and  glory  promised  by  the  Father. 
The  testimony  concerning  it  is  so  abundant  that  it  may  be 
found  on  almost  every  page  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is 
so  clear  and  distinct,  that  the  neglect  or  indifference  with 
which  the  blessed  truth  Is  regarded  at  this  present,  is  one  of 
the  saddest  signs  of  the  times  for  Christendom.  The  great 
importance  and  value  of  the  truth  which  God  has  revealed 
for  the  comfort  and  consolation  of  His  chosen  ones,  and 
which  He  has  placed  so  prominently  on  the  pages  of  His 
word,  can  be  evaded  only  by  a  criminal  carelessness  that 
passes  it  by  as  a  matter  of  little  moment,  or  by  a  natural 
perversity  of  heart  and  mind  that  wilfully  refuses  it.  The 
simple  statement  given  to  men  by  supernatural  witnesses, 
that  "this  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up  from  you  into 
heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  you  have  seen  him 
go  into  heaven,"  followed  by  the  universal  prayer  of  the 
Church,  as  spoken  by  the  last  surviving  Apostle,  "  Even 
so,  come  Lord  Jesus,"  reveal  a  truth  which  was  coincident 
with  the  birth  of  the  Church,  closed  the  canon  of  inspiration, 
and  in  its  manifestation  will  be  to  the  Church  an  entrance 
to  its  highest  glory. 

A  full  belief  in  the  appearing  of  Christ  was  so  prevalent 


THE   COMING    OF   CHRIST.  95 

in  the  Primitive  Church  that  Christians  lived  in  almost 
daily  expectation  of  it.  When  the  Apostle  wrote  of  ^'icait- 
ing  for  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Chrlst,^^  or  of  "our  con- 
versation in  heaven, /a'ohi  whence  also  we  look  for  the  Saviour/' 
or  of  ^'  waiting  for  His  So  a  from  heaven/'  or  of  'Mooking  for 
that  blessed  hope  and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great 
God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ/'  they  accepted  the  words 
as  a  literal  statement  of  a  fact  which  would  surely  take 
place  and  of  which  they  hoped  to  he  witnesses.  Their 
hope  was  not  that  they  would  go  to  Christ,  but  a  belief 
that  He  should  one  day  come  for  them.  They  expected 
the  coming,  they  desired  it,  and  waited  for  it.  This  belief 
exerted  more  or  less  influence  on  the  visible  Church  until 
the  ninth  century,  when  it  seemed  to  culminate  and  disap- 
pear in  the  fanatical  delusion  that  Christ  would  appear  and 
the  world  be  suddenly  destroyed.  After  the  reaction  fol- 
lowing the  dashing  of  that  idea  and  the  utter  failure  of  the 
many  predictions  concerning  the  dreaded  catastrophe,  traces 
of  a  genuine  belief  in  the  scriptural  declaration  could  be 
found  scattered  through  the  Church  up  to  the  time  of  the 
Reformation.  While  the  Reformation  yielded  precious 
fruits  in  the  opening  of  a  sealed  Bible,  and  in  the  delivering 
of  the  people  from  the  tyranny  of  a  corrupt  Church,  and  a 
cruel  priesthood,  it  also  resulted  in  the  formation  of  many 
belligerent  sects,  each  one  retaining  the  main  elements  of 
the  Jewish  legal  system,  and  struggling  bitterly  for  the 
possession  and  retention  of  temporal  power,  forgetful  of  the 
fact  that  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.  In  the 
strife  thus  engendered,  the  precious  truth  of  Christ's  ap- 
pearance was  either  discarded  or  treated  with  indifference 
as  a  mystical  fancy  of  unpractical  dreamers.  The  prevail- 
ing belief  came  at  last  to  be  that  when  the  world  was  con- 
verted by  the  active  labors  of  the  Church,  Christ  would 


96  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

come  and  the  earth  enjoy  its  promised  Millennium.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  since  the  Reformation  to  the  present 
time,  the  majority  of  those  who  compose  the  visible  Church 
have  not  been  looking  for  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  have 
not,  except  in  a  general  and  crude  manner,  made  the  belief 
in  it  an  article  in  their  theoretical  and  intellectual  creeds. 
Absolutely  shut  out  as  the  Church  of  the  present  dispensa- 
tiQp  is  from  any  participation  in  the  prophecies  of  a  glorious 
future,  except  as  they  may  be  connected  with  or  dependent 
upon  the  appearance  of  Christ,  the  indifference  and  often 
aversion  which  so  many  of  her  members  manifest  to  this 
truth,  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  prevalence  of  false 
ideas  concerning  this  period  of  God's  dispensational  deal- 
ings with  the  Church,  when  its  head  is  hidden  in  the 
heavens,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  working  in  the  hearts  of 
men  forming  that  body  which  is  to  be  the  Heavenly  Bride. 
It  is  a  lamentable  fact,  that  the  Church  does  not  cherish  a 
lively  hope  that  Christ  will  personally  come  to  the  earth  to 
remove  the  curse,  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  and  to 
rule  as  King  of  the  Jews  and  King  of  nations.  A  consid- 
eration of  some  of  the  causes  producing  this  widespread 
unbelief  of  one  of  the  most  vital  Gospel  facts,  may  place  the 
truth  more  definitely  before  the  mind  and  make  evident 
the  folly  of  its  rejection. 

A  spirit  of  materialism  resulting  from  the  insidious  temp- 
tations of  Satan,  has  so  permeated  the  visible  Church  that 
Christians  have  made  their  personal  future  safety  a  primary 
object  of  solicitude,  while  their  interest  in  that  which  relates 
to  Christ's  future  glory  has  become  secondary.  When  the 
peace  and  rest  which  the  covenant  of  Grace  has  provided 
and  made  sure  for  all  who  accept  the  gift  of  the  Son  of 
God,  has  been  allowed  to  usurp  that  place  in  the  desires 
and  affections  of  the  heart  which  should  be  occupied  by 


THE   COMING   OF   CHRIST.  97 

earnest  hopes  for,  and  deep  interest  in,  Christ's  glory,  both 
in  Heaven  and  on  the  earth,  the  fact  is  sad  evidence  of  but 
sliglit  progress  in  the  Divine  life,  and  of  a  state  of  content- 
ment with  privileges  far  below  those  which  are,  or  might 
be,  the  present  possession  of  every  Christian.  If  by  reason 
of  misty  and  uncertain  views,  springing  from  careless  or 
indifferent  study  of  the  truth  God  has  revealed  in  His 
word,  our  aspirations  do  not  reach  forward  beyond  the 
changing  and  evanescent  scenes  of  this  mortal  life,  our  re- 
ligion, which,  like  its  source,  should  be  wide-reaching  as  the 
universe,  becomes  contracted  and  narrow,  and  degenerates 
into  a  species  of  selfishness,  a  form  of  self-righteousness 
which  accepts  the  results  of  a  ^'  life  hid  with  Christ  in 
God"  as  a  reward  for  service  rendered,  a  merit  for  active 
effort,  or  wages  for  labor  performed.  The  "  glorious  lib- 
erty'' vouchsafed  by  the  Gospel  is  transformed  into  legal- 
ism, and  the  infinite  love  of  God  is  measured  by  the  amount 
of  earthly  good  granted,  or  the  delights  of  Heaven  promised, 
rather  than  by  the  glory  to  be  manifested  in  His  Son,  at 
whose  coming  all  who  are  united  to  Him  by  faith,  will  be 
made  the  full  and  honored  participants.  The  almost  irre- 
sistible temptation  to  Christians,  of  the  false  ideas  thus 
formed,  is  to  regard  this  present  dispensation  as  the  last,  or 
"  the  end  of  days,"  and  to  believe  that  the  Church  is  to  be 
the  means  of  the  conversion  of  the  world  under  this  system 
of  Grace.  Very  naturally,  then,  more  dependence  is  placed 
on  human  effort  for  tlie  accomplishment  of  the  supposed 
plans  of  God,  than  upon  the  influence  and  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  who  leads  into  all  truth  and  duty.  An  ac- 
tivity springing  from  a  voluntary  act  of  the  human  will, 
and  a  misdirected  zeal  prompted  and  guided  by  the  forces 
of  human  organization — elements  which  never  can  accord 
with  the  supernatural  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit — have 


98  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

been  fully  developed  in  the  history  of  Christendom,  and 
are  still  working  out  their  disastrous  results  in  the  schisms, 
disputes,  and  errors  that  so  sorely  afflict  the  visible  Church, 
and  make  her  so  often,  and  too  universally,  the  weak  and 
feeble  witness  of  her  absent  Lord.  There  are,  certainly, 
here  and  there  many  Christians  who  cherish  a  true  though 
cloudy  view  that  Christ  may  come  and  reign  on  the  earth ; 
but  the  preaching  of  a  worldly  gospel  paralyzes  even  that 
dull  hope,  and  deprives  it  of  the  little  power  it  might 
otherwise  exert. 

There  is  another  error  into  which  many  fall  that  is 
worthy  of  remark,  viz.,  the  confounding  of  two  facts  alto- 
gether different  in  character  and  results, — the  coming  of 
Christ  and  the  death  of  the  Christian.  The  statement  is 
often  heard  from  the  pulpit  to  the  effect  that  the  natural 
death  of  the  body  is  to  the  individual  soul  the  coming  of 
Christ,  and  its  immediate  entrance  into  the  conditions  of  its 
final  and  everlasting  destiny.  Without  entering  upon  any 
discussion  of  that  intermediate  state  of  souls  existing  between 
the  death  of  the  body  and  its  resurrection,  we  would  call 
attention  to  the  four  passages  of  the  New  Testament  refer- 
ring to  the  natural  death  of  the  Christian,  assured  that  their 
examination  will  most  conclusively  prove  that  the  coming 
of  Christ  so  explicitly  foretold  is  not  in  any  sense  connected 
with  natural  death.  The  words  of  Christ  to  the  penitent 
thief,  "  This  day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise"  (Luke 
xxiii.  43) ;  the  last  words  of  the  martyr  Stephen,  "  Lord 
Jesus,  receive  my  spirit"  (Acts  vii.  59) ;  Paul's  expression  of 
willingness  "rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body  and  to  be 
present  with  the  Lord"  (2  Cor.  v.  8),  and  his  "  desire  to 
depart  and  to  be  with  Christ"  (Phil.  i.  23),  are  all  we 
have.  While  these  passages  do  most  certainly  teach  that 
the  souls  of  believers  will  in  some  sense  be  present  with 


Tilt:   COMING    OF  CHRIST.  \)S) 

Christ  in  that  ^^  })ara(Hse"  into  which  Paul  was  cauglit  up 
and  "  heard  unspeakable  words  which  it  is  not  lawful  for 
man  to  utter/'  yet  they  give  no  warrant  for  tlie  idea  that 
Christ  comes  to  us  at  death,  or  that  His  reception  of  our 
souls  is  in  any  sense  that  coming  of  which  the  Apostles 
speak.  On  the  eve  of  His  departure  Christ  plainly  said  to 
the  disciples,  "  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,  and  if  I  go 
and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again  and  receive 
you  unto  myself," — a  promise  that  can  have  no  reference  to 
the  death  of  believers.  Our  going  to  Him,  and  His  coming 
for  us,  are  different  facts  in  every  respect.  In  Scripture 
they  are  never  confounded,  and  it  becomes  us,  if  we  would 
fully  comprehend  the  truth,  to  carefully  observe  tlie  wide 
space  which  separates  them.* 

Another  fruitful  source  of  confusion,  existing  in  the 
minds  of  Christians  concerning  the  unfulfilled  prophecies 
of  the  New  Testament,  is  the  acceptance  of  the  ^'  coming  of 
Christ"  and  "  the  day  of  the  Lord,"  as  one  and  the  same 
thing.  The  times  themselves  are  frequently  regarded  as 
synonymous,  and  the  events  as  identical.  The  one  is,  or 
should  be,  the  hope  and  expectation  of  the  Church;  the 
other  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  words  of  prophecy  contained  in 
the  Old  as  well  as  the  New  Testament.  The  one  has  special 
and  direct  reference  to  the  Church  only,  those  who  are  called 
out  from  the  world  by  the  Grace  of  God ;  the  other  embraces 
the  Jewish  nation  and  all  people  that  may  be  dwelling  on 
the  face  of  the  earth  at  the  time  of  its  manifestation.  By  an 
examination  of  a  few  of  the  passages  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  Scripture,  we  may  arrive  at  some  definite  conclusion  as 
to  what  is  involved  in  that  terrible  phrase,  "  the  day  of  the 
Lord."      Joel  says,  in  second  chapter,  "Let  all  the  inhabi- 

"^  See  them  contrasted,  John  xxi.  23. 


100  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

tants  of  the  land  tremble :  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometli,  for 
it  is  nigh  at  hand ;  a  day  of  darkness  and  of  gloominess,  a 
day  of  clouds  and  thick  darkness,  as  the  morning  spread 
upon  the  mountains ;  .  .  .  the  earth  shall  quake  before 
them,  the  heavens  shall  tremble,  the  sun  and  the  moon 
shall  be  dark,  and  the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining, 
and  the  Lord  shall  utter  His  voice  before  His  army,  .  .  . 
foF  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  great  and  terrible,  and  who  can 
abide  it?  .  .  .  And  I  will  show  wonders  in  the  heavens  and 
in  the  earth,  blood  and  fire  and  pillars  of  smoke.  The  sun 
shall  be  turned  into  darkness  and  the  moon  into  blood, 
before  that  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  come." 
Compare  these  words,  spoken  to  and  primarily  intended 
for  Jews,  with  the  Avords  of  Christ  as  recorded  by  Mat- 
thew, the  Jewish  apostle,  whose  mind,  more  than  that  of 
any  other  disciple,  received  and  comprehended  the  utter- 
ances of  the  Master  that  had  the  closest  relation  to  the 
national  hope  and  destiny,  in  twenty-fourth  chapter,  twenty- 
ninth  verse :  "  Immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those 
days  shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall  not 
give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and 
the  powers  of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken,  and  then  shall 
appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven,  and  then 
shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn."  Isaiah  says,  in 
the  thirteenth  chapter,  "  Howl  ye,  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is 
at  hand  :  it  shall  come  as  a  destruction  from  the  Almighty. 
Therefore  shall  all  hands  be  faint,  and  every  man's  heart 
shall  melt,  and  they  shall  be  afraid.  .  .  .  Behold  the  day 
of  the  L^ord  cometh,  cruel  both  with  wrath  and  fierce 
anger."  And  again,  in  chapter  thirty -fourth,  after  pre- 
dicting great  and  fearful  changes  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
the  heavenly  bodies,  and  the  falling  of  the  hosts  of  heaven 
as  the  leaf  falleth  from  the  vine  and  the  fig-tree,  he  says : 


THE   COMING    OF  CHRIST.  IQl 

^'  For  it  is  the  day  of  the  Lord's  vengeance,  and  the  year  of 
recompense  for  the  controversy  of  Zion."  Compare  these, 
and  many  other  similar  predictions  of  all  the  Jewish 
prophets,  with  the  words  of  Christ,  as  given  by  Luke  in 
the  twenty-first  chapter  of  his  Gospel:  "And  there  shall  be 
signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and  in  the  stars :  and 
upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations,  with  per})lexity ;  the  sea 
and  the  waves  roaring ;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear, 
and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  upon 
the  earth  ;  for  the  powers  of  heaven  shall  be  shaken." 
From  all  that  is  recorded  of  this  great  and  terrible  day  of 
the  Lord,  we  learn,  that  while  it  will  be  a  period  of  won- 
derful changes  in  the  course  of  nature,  of  terror  and  dis- 
tress to  all  men,  a  time  of  judgment  upon  the  world,  a  day 
of  reckoning  with  Gentiles  and  apostate  Jews,  it  Avill  not 
be  the  day  of  the  coming  of  Christ, — that  it  has  nothing 
in  common  with  that  day  of  peace  and  joy,  that  day  of 
rapture  and  glory,  when  Christ  shall  have  been  forever  and 
inseparably  united  with  his  people. 

A  study  of  the  passages  where  "  the  day  of  the'^  Lord  is 
predicted  by  the  Jewish  prophets,  and  spoken  of  with  still 
greater  emphasis  by  the  Lord  Himself,  will  divest  the 
mind  of  the  reader  of  many  false  or  confused  ideas,  and 
assure  him  that  "the  day"  and  "the  coming"  are  not  one  and 
the  same  thing.  While  there  may  be  an  interval  of  time 
between  them,  which  cannot  be  fixed  with  precision,  yet 
Scripture  teaches  that  they  are  not  simultaneous.  The 
"coming  of  Christ''  will  precede  "the  day  of  the  Lord," 
and,  as  a  result,  the  deliverance  of  the  Church  from  judg- 
ment will  have  been  manifested,  for  the  Church,  ere  that 
day  arrives,  will  have  been  taken  to  Heaven,  and  made 
joyful  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  The  four-and-twenty 
crowned  elders,  representing  the  redeemed  saints,  shall  be 


102  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

gathered  ai'ound  the  Lamb  in  gloiy,  before  the  seals  shall 
be  broken,  or  the  vials  poured  out,  or  any  portion  of  the 
terrible  scenes  which  were  opened  to  John's  ])rophetic 
vision  shall  take  place.  The  one  will  be  the  fulfilment  of 
John's  prophecies  given  to  and  intended  for  those  who 
have  accepted  Christ;  the  other  is  the  culmination  and 
final  completion  of  God's  purpose  with  His  chosen  people, 
and  the  entire  race  of  men,  those  "  that  know  not  God,  and 
that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

The  practical  influence  of  a  clear  comprehension  of  this 
important  distinction  can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  The 
present  comfort  of  a  Christian  is  in  some  measure  dependent 
upon,  and  governed  by,  his  hopes  of  the  future,  which  spring 
from,  and  are  influenced  by,  true  or  false  conceptions  of  re- 
vealed truth.  Not  in  possession  of  the  key  which  only  can 
open  the  mystery,  or  failing  to  grasp  the  first  principle  of 
truth  on  which  all  depends,  the  mind  is  filled  with  vague 
or  fearful  ideas  of  the  future,  and  the  soul  takes  to  itself 
all  the  tribulations  and  anguish,  the  judgment  and  terrors, 
which  are  so  certainly  to  be  the  accompaniments  of  ^'  the 
day  of  the  Lord,"  and  loses  sight  of  the  heavenly  glory, 
the  quiet  peace  and  rich  comfort  that  are  the  promised  por- 
tion of  Christ's  people  when  He  shall  come  for  them.  The 
utter  failure  to  make  the  proper  distinction  between  Christ's 
descent  into  the  air  to  receive  all  His  people  to  Himself, 
and  His  appearing  in  a  glory  visible  to  all,  to  set  up  His 
Kingdom  and  to  enter  upon  the  inheritance  promised  by 
the  Father,  takes  away  from  the  Christian  any  deep  interest 
in,  and  earnest  desire  for,  participation  in  the  answer  to  the 
universal  prayer  of  the  Church,  "Amen:  even  so,  come 
Lord  Jesus." 

An  inference  may  properly  be  drawn  from  the  very  dif- 
ferent manner  in  which  the  two  great  facts  are  always  pre- 


THE   COMING    OF   CHRIST.  103 

sented  to  us  in  Scripture.  With  all  the  Apostles  it  is  as- 
sumed that  believers  are  looking,  and  waiting  for  the  coming 
of  Christ.  It  is  placed  before  the  heart  and  affections  as  a 
bright  and  blessed  hope  that  may  be  realized  any  moment. 
There  is  no  reason  revealed,  no  cause  given  why  it  might 
not  take  place  this  day.  The  coming  is  not  awaiting  the 
fulfilment  of  any  prophecy,  is  not  dependent  on  any  prepa- 
ration that  can  be  made,  or  any  labor  that  can  be  performed. 
We  rest  safely  on  the  scriptural  ground  that  when  God's 
purpose  of  love  to  His  children  in  this  world  is  completed, 
when  all  who  are  the  elect  of  God  have  been  united  to 
Christ  by  faith,  then  ''  He  will  come."  The  "  day  of  the 
Lord,"  its  sudden  coming  with  attendant  darkness  and  de- 
struction, are  used  by  Paul  as  a  strong  argument  to  press 
home  upon  the  consciousness  of  the  Thessalonians,  the  ne- 
cessity of  soberness,  watchfulness,  and  the  constant  exercise 
of  faith,  love,  and  hope  in  those  who  are  to  stand  as  wit- 
nesses of  their  absent  Lord. 

There  is  present  in  the  minds  of  many  well-meaning  and 
intelligent  Christians  a  lurking  fear,  based  unfortunately 
on  reasons  of  certain  force,  that  a  belief  in  the  second  coming 
of  Christ  is  associated  with  and  will  inevitably  lead  to  un- 
authorized speculations  and  absurd  conclusions  which  should 
be  reprobated  rather  than  encouraged  by  thoughtful  pious 
men.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  some  men  have  allowed 
this  truth  to  gain  such  exclusive  possession  of  the  mind 
that  it  has  produced  in  them  and  their  followers,  an  extrav- 
agance of  language  and  conduct,  a  spirit  of  intolerance  and 
uncharitableness  towards  those  who  may  not  be  able  to  agree 
with  them,  a  feeling  of  self-satisfaction  and  spiritual  pride, 
accompanied  by  vain  imaginings  and  fanatical  expectations, 
that  these  obnoxious  features  have  been  regarded  as  the 
legitimate  fruits  of  the  doctrine  rather  than  as  the  results 


104  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

of  intemperate  zeal.  There  may  be  such  an  overwhelming 
persuasion  of  the  truth  of  any  particular  doctrine,  especially 
if  it  relates  to  something  in  the  future,  that  the  subject  may 
become  oblivious  to  the  claim  of  ordinary  daily  Christian 
duty,  and  yield  himself  to  the  fascinating  but  useless  labor 
of  reconciling  the  events  of  social  or  political  life  with  the 
details  of  his  preconceived  notions  of  prophecy.  To  all 
such,  an  outbreak  among  the  nations,  or  a  treaty  of  peace, 
tTie  advent  of  a  remarkable  man,  or  the  death  of  an  earthly 
potentate,  or  the  thousand  other  facts  of  human  history  that 
seem  to  have  more  than  an  ordinary  importance,  are  claimed 
as  the  immediate  precursors  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  and 
made  the  foundation  of  the  most  absurd  expectations. 
These  things  may,  or  may  not,  have  some  connection  with 
the  event ;  they  may  appear  very  plausible  or  exceedingly 
foolish;  but  they  do  not  in  the  slightest  degree  aifect  the 
substantial  evidence  in  our  possession  that  the  Lord  will 
return  to  the  earth.  They  should  not  be  permitted  to 
influence  in  any  way  the  settled  and  practical  hope  cher- 
ished by  the  Christian.  It  may  also  be  remarked  that  a 
true  and  genuine  faith  in  the  fact  itself,  may  subsist  in 
company  with  gross  errors  that  do  not  spring  from  it  or 
bear  any  relation  to  it. 

The  belief  in,  and  expectation  of  the  return  of  Christ,  is 
based  wholly  u])on  a  Divine  revelation.  It  is  a  matter  of 
faith  throughout, — faith  in  testimony  abundantly  sustained. 
It  rests  on  the  declarations  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles. 
The  fact  that  it  has  not  been  a  lively  hope  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  Church,  and  has  occupied  but  a  secondary  posi- 
tion in  the  formulated  confessions  of  the  various  sects  of 
Christendom,  is  only  an  evidence  of  strange  carelessness 
and  prevailing  materialism.  It  is  not  the  present  purpose 
to  examine  in  detail  the  many  plain  declarations  of  the  fact 


THE   COMING    OF  CHRIST.  105 

which  meet  the  Christian  whenever  he  opens  the  New 
Testament,  but  simply,  if  it  be  possible,  to  remove  a  few 
of  the  misconceptions  that  have  gathered  about  the  whole 
subject,  and  endeavor  to  break  up,  in  some  measure,  the 
indifference  which  would  pass  by  this  important  truth,  as 
something  which  could  not  have  any  immediate  practical 
connection  with  the  individual  life  and  destiny. 

In  the  consideration  of  this,  as  of  any  other  fact  of  reve- 
lation, we  must  come  to  the  record  with  an  earnest  and 
sincere  desire  to  learn  just  what  the  Holy  Spirit  has  com- 
municated through  the  medium  of  His  servants,  and  what 
the  Lord  Himself  hath  spoken.  The  ordinary  rules  gov- 
erning transmitted  records  may  be  applied  here  with  full 
force.  If  the  language  of  any  particular  passage  is  sym- 
bolical in  character,  it  must  be  interpreted  in  accordance 
with  the  rules  generally  accepted  in  biblical  exposition. 
But,  when  the  language  is  simple,  plain,  and  literal,  when  it 
is  a  strong  declaration  and  prophecy  of  what  shall  be,  it 
should  be  accepted  as  the  truth  which  the  Lord  God  would 
make  known.  Human  reasoning  and  arguments  may 
remove  some  of  the  obstacles  standing  in  the  way  of  an 
apprehension  of  Divine  truth,  but  the  revelation  itself, 
impressed  on  the  heart  and  mind  by  the  indwelling  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  alone  can  make  the  truth  effective,  and  so 
incorporate  it  into  the  very  soul  of  the  Christian  that  it 
will  become  a  living  and  constant  impulse  of  the  life. 
Trusting  that  a  careful  study  of  the  fact,  as  it  is  revealed 
in  Scriptures,*  may  bring  it  home  to  the  heart  and  con- 

*  Texts  referring  generally  to  the  coming  of  Christ :  Psalms  ii.  8, 
9  ;  Isaiah  xxiv.  23  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  5-8  ;  xxxiii.  14-17  ;  Ezek.  xxi.  26, 
27  ;  xliii.  4  -,  Acts  i.  11  ;  Matt.  xxiv.  27,  37,  39 ;  xxvi.  64. 

Texts  referring  specially  to  the  appearing  of  Christ  to  meet  the 
Gospel  Church  for  tlie  purposes  of  completing  their  redemption,  of 


106  THINGS   OF   THE   KINGDOM. 

science  of  believers,  we  would  note  some  correlative  facts, 
inferences,  and  practical  results,  that  seem  to  be  associated 
with  the  truth. 

We  have  claimed  that  the  second  coming  of  Christ  is  a 
central  truth  of  Christian  doctrine,  that  its  importance  is 
manifested  in  the  reconciliation  it  effects  between  points  of 
belief  which  would  otherwise  stand  in  direct  opposition  to 
each  other,  as  well  as  in  the  correct  interpretation  wliich  it 
places  upon  all  related  passages  of  Scripture.     In  it  we  may 

calling  the  bodies  of  believers  from  the  grave,  and  the  changing 
of  those  who  may  be  living  on  the  earth,  and,  finally,  of  receiving 
them  unto  Himself,  and  fulfilling  to  them  all  promises  of  dominion, 
povper,  and  glory  :  Luke  xxi.  27.  28  ;  Eph.  iv.  30;  Ileb.  ix.  28  ;  1st 
Cor.  XV.  42-44,  51-54 ;  1st  Thes.  iv.  14-17  5  Phil,  iii,  20,  21  ;  John 
xiv.  3 ;  1st  John  iii.  2 ;  1st  Cor.  iv.  5 ;  vi.  2,  3  5  Rev.  ii.  26,  27  ;  2d 
Tim.  iv.  8. 

Texts  referring  to  the  influence  which  the  belief  in,  and  hope  of 
the  coming  of  Christ  should  have  on  Christians  :  1st  Cor.  i.  8  ;  Phil. 
vi.  1,  10  ;  Ileb.  x.  25  ;  1st  Peter  i.  7  ;  1st  Thes.  v.  23;  2d  Thes.  i. 
10 ;  1st  Tim.  vi.  14  ;  Heb.  x.  25 ;  1st  John  ii.  28 ;  James  v.  7  ;  Matt, 
xxiv.  44;  Mark  xiii.  33,  3G ;  Luke  xii.  35,  36,  40;  xxi.  34;  Rom. 
xiii.  11-14;  Rev.  xvi.  15. 

Texts  setting  forth  the  appearing  of  Christ  as  the  highest  hope  of 
the  Church :  Titus  ii.  13  ;  1st  Peter  i.  13  ;  2d  Tim.  iv.  8. 

For  many  clear  statements  as  to  the  relation  between  Christ's 
coming  and  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
passages,  and  tlieir  contexts,  quoted  in  essay  on  tlie  Jewish  nation, 
pages  65-72.  Nothing  but  careful  study  of  the  Scriptures  setting  forth 
the  manner  in  which  Christ  will  come,  first  for  His  Church,  and  then 
for  judgment,  with  the  attendent  consequences  to  the  Church,  to  His 
ancient  chosen  people,  to  unbelievers,  to  Antichrist,  and  to  the  world 
at  large,  will  make  evident  to  the  mind  the  importance  of  that  tre- 
mendous event  which  has  been  regarded,  even  by  believers,  as  a 
matter  of  little  moment,  or  as  a  revelation  of  that  which  could  have 
but  slight  connection  with,  or  influence  upon,  the  daily  life  of  God's 
children. 


THE   COMING    OF   CHRIST.  107 

see  all  the  diverse  lines  of  prophecy  meeting,  all  the  prom- 
ises of  good  converging,  all  the  Divine  purposes  of  glory, 
both  for  time  and  eternity,  approaching  culmination.  Fol- 
lowing out  the  idea  as  it  has  been  reveded  in  Scripture, 
we  soon  meet  statements  that  bear  very  strongly  against 
the  prevalent  belief  that  there  will  be  a  promiscuous  resur- 
rection at  the  same  time  of  all  Avho  have  lived  on  the  earth. 
The  belief  is  so  prevalent  and  so  apparently  based  on 
scriptural  authority,  that  many  are  startled,  indeed,  rather 
shocked,  by  the  claim  that  there  will  be  two  resurrections , 
different  in  character  and  widely  separated  in  ])oints  of 
time.  But  yet  this  fact  of  two  resurrections,  following 
from  and  involved  in  the  second  coming  of  Christ,  cannot 
be  classed  among  those  which  are  but  dimly  foreshadowed. 
John,  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  Gospel,  distinctly  makes 
mention  of  ''  the  resurrection  of  life"  and  "  the  resurrection 
of  evil."  He  does  not,  it  is  true,  in  this  passage  make  the 
distinction  of  time,  but  the  difference  in  character  of  the 
two  resurrections  is  so  emphatically  marked,  that  there  is 
good  ground  for  the  conclusion  that  "  the  resurrection  of 
life"  is  the  one  which  will  take  place  when  Christ  shall 
call  the  bodies  of  His  sleeping  saints  to  Himself. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  who  cherished  so  deeply  in  his  own 
soul  and  so  frequently  and  earnestly  enforced  the  glorious 
truth  of  the  coming  of  Christ,  when  speaking  out  his  own 
feelings  to  the  brethren  at  Philipi)i,  ''if  by  any  means  I 
may  attain  unto  the  resurrection  from  among  the  dead," 
clearly  and  evidently  refers  to  a  resurrection  of  those  who 
had  known  Christ  "  and  the  power  of  His  resurrection  and 
the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings,  being  made  conformable 
unto  His  death."  His  hope  was  not  for  a  part  in  a  general 
awakening  of  the  dead,  but  for  a  participation  in  an  elective 
special  resurrection,  like  unto  that  of  his  Miister,  based  upon 


108  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

the  revelation  to  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  the  future 
coming  of  Christ.  It  was  a  hope  in  something  above  the 
ordinary  belief  of  the  multitude  gathered  in  the  judgment- 
hall  of  Felix,  that  there  would  be  ^^  a  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  both  of  the  just  and  unjust.'^ 

While  we  have  ground  for  assurance  that  there  will 
be  two  resurrections,  in  the  circumstances  connected  with 
the  second  coming  of  Christ,  and  while  they  give  logical 
?ind  irresistible  reasons  that  the  '^coming"  and  the  ^' first 
resurrection''  will  be  simultaneous,  we  have  positive  testi- 
mony of  the  fact  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Revelation. 
Whatever  difficulties  may  gather  about  the  correct  inter- 
pretation of  this  most  interesting  chapter,  the  fifth  verse, 
*'  but  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand 
years  were  finished.  This  is  the  first  resurrection,"  should 
remove  any  doubt  that  may  have  been  felt  by  Christians 
on  this  important  truth.  Two  points  are  absolutely  fixed, 
— there  will  be  two  resurrections,  and  there  will  be  an 
interval  between  them.  Let  the  term  "  thousand  years" 
be  literal  or  mystical,  it  certainly  denotes  a  period  of  time 
extending  from  the  occurrence  of  a  stated  fact  until  another 
j)eriod  when  the  fixed  appointed  time  shall  have  been  com- 
pleted. This,  being  only  a  matter  of  degree  and  detail, 
does  not  in  any  manner  affect  the  general  truth,  that  at  the 
comin^r  of  Christ  the  bodies  of  those  who  have  believed  on 
Him  ^'  will  arise  from  among  the  dead,"  be  reunited  with 
their  glorified  souls,  and  in  company  with  the  saints  who 
may  then  be  living  on  the  earth,  who  have  been  suddenly 
changed,  enter  upon  their  perfected  eternal  condition,  ^^  be 
priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,"  ready  "  to  reign  with  Him  a 
thousand  years." 

The  fact  of  a  first  resurrection  of  the  saints,  dependent 
as  it  is  on  the  coming  of  Christ  with  Divine  power  to  raise 


THE   COMING    OF  CHRIST.  109 

them  from  the  sleep  of  death  to  meet  Him  in  the  air,  is  in 
correspondence  with  the  principle  of  God's  plan  of  salva- 
tion by  Grace.  Called  to  Christ  by  a  special  elective  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  called  out  of  the  world  to  be  the  wit- 
nesses of  their  absent  Lord,  separated  from  the  world  and 
formed  into  that  mystical  Body  which  is  to  be  the  first 
fruits  of  Christ's  sacrifice, — a  separation  from  among  the 
dead  and  a  glorious  uniting  with  Christ  the  Head, — would 
seem  to  be  in  perfect  accordance  with  God's  plans  with  His 
saints,  as  they  have  been  revealed  in  Scripture  ajid  by 
providence. 

There  is  another  of  the  generally  received  opinions  of 
Christendom  that  will  be  greatly  modified,  and,  in  many 
individual  cases,  entirely  changed,  by  the  acceptance  of  the 
fact  of  Clirist's  second  coming  and  a  consequent  first  resur- 
rection of  the  saints, — viz.,  a  belief  in  a  general  judgment 
at  one  time  of  all  who  have  lived  on  the  earth,  and  a  final 
decision  of  the  eternal  destiny  of  all.  Aside  from  the  state- 
ment of  Christ  (John  v.  24),  that  he  who  heareth  His  word 
and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  Him,  "  hath  everlasting 
life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation,"  putting  all 
believers  beyond  the  fact  of  judgment,  their  participation 
in  the  first  resurrection,  the  union  with  Christ,  render  it 
impossible  that  the  saints  should  have  any  part  in  a  judg- 
ment which  includes  rejecters  of  Christ.  Whatever  may 
be  involved  in  the  fact,  it  is  very  evident  from  Scripture 
that  the  *'  saints"  are  not  represented  as  being  judged  with 
the  world,  but,  on  the  contrary,  will  stand  in  the  respon- 
sible and  honorable  position  of  jiuJr/es  of  the  world,  rulers 
in  spiritual  over  the  earth  with  Christ, — stations  for  which 
they  have  been  prepared  by  training  and  education  on  the 
earth.  In  reading  such  statements  as  are  found  in  1  Cor. 
vi.  2,  3;  Jude  14,  15;  Rev.  ii.  26,  27;  iii.  21;  v.  10,  it 


110  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

is  difficult  to  understand  or  in  any  manner  account  for  the 
prevalent  belief,  that  the  saints  who  were  redeemed  to  God 
by  the  blood  of  Christ  "out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  and  nation,"  and  thus  "  made  kings  and  priests/^ 
and  who  are  represented  as  saying  in  the  "new  song,"  "Tf^ 
shall  reign  on  the  earth,^^  must,  in  some  imagined  future 
day  of  judgment,  take  their  place  with  those  who  had  re- 
j«ted  the  love  of  the  Lord  as  it  was  manifested  in  Jesus 
Christ.  When  they  accepted  Christ  they  "  passed  from 
death  into  life."  The  burden  of  their  sin  had  been  borne 
by  Christ  on  the  cross ;  their  guilt  had  been  washed  away 
by  His  blood;  there  can  be  "no  condemnation  to  them 
which  are  in  Christ  Jesus."  They  are  the  "  blessed  and 
holy"  that  will  have  "  part  in  the  first  resurrection,"  upon 
whom  "  the  second  death  hath  no  power,"  who  will  have 
been  reigning  w^ith  Christ  before  the  "  dead,  small  and 
great,  stand  before  God,"  before  the  books  are  opened  and 
the  dead  "judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written 
in  the  books,  according  to  their  works." 

From  among  the  many  passages  that  abound  in  the  New 
Testament  setting  forth  by  statement,  by  exhortation  and 
encouragement,  the  practical  results  connected  with  a  right 
apprehension  and  hearty  accej)tance  of  the  fact  of  the  Lord's 
coming,  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  select  any  one,  or  even  a  few, 
that  do  perfectly  and  fully  manifest  the  true  position  of  the 
waiting  Church  of  the  present  dispensation,  for  there  is  no 
special  grace  entering  into  a  completely  developed  Christian 
character  that  is  not  urged  upon  or  presented  to  the  believer 
by  the  consideration  of  the  appearing  of  his  Saviour.  In  the 
exhortation  of  James  (chap.  v.  7-8),  "  Be  patient  therefore, 
brethren,  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  Behold,  the  hus- 
bandman waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit  of  the  earth,  and 
hath  long  patience  for  it,  until  he  receive  the  early  and 


THE   COMIXG    OF   CHRIST.  HI 

latter  rain.     Be  ye  also  patient;  establish  your  hearts,  for 
the   coming   of  the  Lord   draweth    nigh,"    perhaps    more 
clearly   than    many,    exhibits   two   of    the   cliaracteristics 
which  spring  from  fiiith  in  the  promise, — viz.,  patience  and 
steadfastness.     Believers  have  been  "  turned  from  idols  to 
serve  tlie  living  and  true  God,  and  to  iraitfor  His  Son  from, 
heaven,'^ — they  are  to  have  "their  loins  girded  about  and 
their  lamps  burning,"  because  they  are  ''  like  unto  men  tiiat 
wait  for  their  Lord,''— they  are  to  "  come  behind  in  no  good 
gift,  waiting  for  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,''  by 
whom  they  shall  be  '^confirmed  unto  the  end,  blameless  in 
the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"— their  conversation  is  in 
heaven,  "from  whence  also  they  look  for  the  Saviour, — 
"denying  themselves  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,"  they 
are  to  "  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present 
world,  looking  for  that  blessed  hope  and  the  glorious  appear- 
ing of  the  great  God,"— they  are  to  be  "  sober  and  hope  to 
the  end  for  the  grace  that  is  to  be  brought  unto  them  at  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,'' — they  are  to  be  so  fully  influ- 
enced by  this  hope  of  His  appearing,  and  their  consequent 
transformation  into  His  likeness,  that  its  result  will   be 
purification,  "  even  as  He  (Christ)  is  pure," — they  are  to 
avoid  indulgence  in  worldly  pleasure  that  is  so  strong  a 
temptation  when  the  idea  creeps  over  the  mind  that  "  the 
Lord  delayeth  His  coming," — they  are  to  be  constantly  in 
the  expectant  attitude  of  those  who  are  waiting  for  the  cry, 
"  Behold,  the  Bridegroom   cometh," — they  are  the  subjects 
of  the  prayer  of  Paul  when  he  asks  that  their  "  whole  spirit 
and  soul  and  body  be  preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  Jesus   Christ," — they   are  the   "blessed   and 
holy,"  having  "  part  in  the  first  resurrection,"  upon  whom 
"  the  second  death  hath  no  power," — they  are  those  who 
shall  be  "  accounted  worthy  to  escape  all  those  things  that 


112  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

shall  come  to  pass,  and  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  man." 
Indeed,  the  second  coming  of  Christ  forms  so  large  a  por- 
tion of  Scripture,  that  holiness,  purity,  diligence,  faith, 
prayer,  separation  from  the  world,  love  for  brethren,  patience 
under  difficulties  and  suffering,  courage,  hopefulness,  con- 
tentment, firm  assurance,  and  every  Christian  grace  in  this 
life,  as  well  as  every  future  glory  with  which  the  saint  is 
to  be  crowned,  is  connected  and  closely  bound  up  with  it. 
If  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  Christians  of  the  Apostolic  age 
were  animated  by  the  thought  of  the  nearness  of  the  Lord^s 
coming,  and  if  the  literal  coming  of  Christ  Avas  an  impulse 
of  such  mighty  power  in  their  souls,  how  much  more  power 
and  influence  should  the  fact  exert  on  us,  who,  by  the  lapse 
of  time,  are  brought  so  much  nearer  to  the  glorious  culmi- 
nation of  the  Divine  purpose?  Has  not  the  Church  lost 
much  of  its  power  for  '^  witnessing'^  by  allowing  a  mere 
hope  of  individual  salvation  immediately  after  natural 
death,  to  take  precedence  of  that  glorious  hope  so  clearly 
held  up  to  it  in  the  Gospel  of  Grace  ? 

Aside  from  the  practical  influence  exerted  upon  the  daily 
Christian  life  by  a  hearty  belief  in  the  second  coming  of 
Christ,  it  is  important  as  the  fact  which  gives  unity  and 
coherence  to  all  the  prophecies  of  Scripture,  however  diverse 
and  even  opposite  they  may  appear  in  character  and  result. 
As  Scripture  is  mainly  a  revelation  of  God's  purposes 
towards  men,  not  only  as  to  their  final  destiny  as  individ- 
uals, but  nations  as  Avell;  and  as  God's  own  ultimate  glory 
is  to  be  fully  manifested  in  His  procedure  with  the  human 
race,  and  the  earth  as  its  dwelling-place,  we  are  not  crossing 
the  boundaries  which  limit  lawfully  our  investigations  when 
we  search  for  that  fact  which  gathers  up  in  itself  all  the 
lines  of  prophecy  vouchsafed  to  us  by  Infinite  Wisdom,  and 
are  not  rashly  intruding  on  forbidden  ground  when  we  strive 


THE    COMING    OF  CHRIST.  113 

to  find  In  that  relation  the  point  where  all  the  Divine  ])lans 
will  centre.  Such  a  fact,  fully  comprehended  and  followed 
out  in  all  its  proper  relations,  will  reveal  order  and  sym- 
metry where  all  seemed  to  be  confusion  and  perplexity. 
The  dark  problems  of  human  history  and  experience,  if  not 
solved,  will  at  least  assume  a  very  different  appearance 
when  viewed  in  the  clear  light  of  God's  revealed  purpose. 

Among  the  many  comprehensive  groupings  of  scriptural 
truth  which  have  been  made  by  learned  pious  men,  we  are 
indebted  to  Rev.  Horatius  Bonar,  D.D.,  for  one  that  com- 
bines the  merits  of  completeness  and  simplicity.  He  claims 
that  there  are  lines  of  prophetic  truth  running  throughout 
all  Scripture,  with  more  or  less  distinctness,  for  the  most 
part  parallel  to  each  other,  sometimes  coming  into  contact, 
sometimes  crossing,  and  at  every  short  distance  sending  out 
lateral  branches  partaking  of  the  nature  of  the  main  one ; 
that  at  no  time  are  they  wholly  independent  of  each  other, 
yet  they  are  separate  and  distinct,  so  that  each  may  be 
traced  singly,  while  viewed  at  the  same  time  in  its  relation 
to  kindred  and  collateral  lines.  He  classifies  these  main 
lines  of  prophecy  under  the  following  heads,  leaving  out 
the  subordinate  ones  under  each  : 

1.  ^'One  takes  up  God's  purpose  regarding  Creation, 
— viz.,  the  material  globe, — tracing  it  from  its  first  calling 
out  of  nothing  down  through  its  present  ruin  to  its  final 
restitution." 

2.  "Another  exhibits  God's  purpose  respecting  His  Son, 
the  Christ  of  God,  from  the  first  promise  of  the  woman's 
seed  to  the  vision  of  His  kingly  glory." 

3.  "  Another  reveals  to  us  God's  purpose  concerning  the 
Church,  as  the  chosen  of  the  Father  and  the  Bride  of  the 
Son,  from  her  first  beginnings  to  her  glorious  completion 
and  blessedness." 


114  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

4.  "  Anotlier  follows  out  the  history  of  Israel,  from  the 
calling  of  Abraham  to  the  time  of  their  resettlement  in 
Canaan  in  the  latter  day." 

5.  '^Another  is  occupied  with  the  history  of  ^the  world/ 
— that  world  that  lieth  in  wickednesSj — making  known  to 
us  its  true  character  as  the  Church's  enemy,  and  its  doom 
because  of  its  overflowing  ungodliness." 

6.  '^  Another  traces  out  Antichrist  in  all  his  varied 
aspects  of  evil  downwards  to  his  last  overwhelming  ruin." 

7.  "Another  fixes  our  eyes  on  Satan  himself,  the  old 
serpent,  the  great  deceiver  of  the  race,  pointing  him  out  to 
us  in  Eden,  and  never  losing  sight  of  him  till  he  is  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire." 

Placing,  then,  clearly  before  the  mind  these  seven  main 
lines  of  prophecy,  running  through  Scripture  like  the  great 
mountain  ridges  of  a  continent, — Creation,  the  Christ,  the 
Church,  the  selected  nation,  the  world,  the  Antichrist,  and 
Satan, — the  careful  Bible  student  may  find,  in  the  many 
passages  announcing  the  second  coming  of  Christ,  state- 
ments which  connect  the  fact  closely  with  each  and  every 
one  of  them.  Taking  any  of  the  single  prophecies  of  the 
Scriptures,  under  any  or  all  of  these  general  divisions,  and 
the  second  coming  of  Christ  will  be  its  perfect  culmination 
as  a  separate  truth,  its  point  of  union  with  all  other 
revealed  truths,  and,  we  may  even  claim,  the  reason  why, 
and  the  purpose  for  which,  the  special  truth  was  revealed. 
We  see  the  material  world  in  its  perfection  and  beauty ; 
then  as  the  dwelling  ])lace  of  man,  suffering  the  curse 
which  followed  the  advent  of  sin  ;  but  when  the  Lord 
comes  the  earth  will  partake  of  the  gladness,  its  curse  will 
be  replaced  by  blessing,  and  it  will  be  an  abode  worthy 
of  its  Creator.  We  trace  Christ  through  all  His  period  of 
earthly  humiliation,  His  death  of  suffering.  His  triumphant 


THE   COMING    OF   CHRIST.  ]15 

resurrection,  but  only  in  His  second  coming  do  we  see  the 
jiromises  of  His  glory  fulfilled  in  connection  with  the 
Church,  the  chosen  nation,  Avith  the  earth  itself,  and  in  His 
conquest  of  sin  and  Satan.  We  see  the  Church,  the  little 
flock,  the  pilgrims  and  strangers  on  the  earth,  the  faithful 
witnesses  of  her  Lord,  passing  through  the  long  period  of 
shame,  persecution  and  suffering,  waiting  patiently  for  the 
time  when  the  appearance  of  her  Lord  shall  end  her  sor- 
rows, begin  her  joys,  and  put  her  in  possession  of  her 
promised  glory.  We  trace  the  history  of  Israel — as  we  can 
trace  the  history  of  no  other  nation  on  the  earth — from  the 
time  of  the  promise  to  Abraham  up  to  the  present  hour, 
and  can  find  no  hope  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises  of 
peace,  joy,  and  happiness,  to  the  outcast  people  until  her 
Messiah  "shall  stand  in  that  day  upon  the  Mount  of 
Olives.''  In  the  history  of  the  world — that  portion  of  the 
human  race  not  included  in  iho.  Jewish  nation,  or  in  the 
Church  of  Christ — we  can  see  nothing  but  increasing  sin 
and  wickedness  until  the  time  when  Christ  will  come  and 
introduce  His  own  kingdom  upon  the  earth.  The  Anti- 
christ, be  it  a  power  or  a  person,  the  opposition  to  God  and 
His  Christ,  which  was  visible  to  Paul  and  to  John,  will 
conduct  his  rebellion  with  greater  power  and  larger  success 
until  the  destruction  which  shall  result  from  the  brightness 
of  the  Lord's  coming.  We  see  Satan,  the  usurper,  the 
enemy  of  man,  ruling  with  power  until  the  time  when  the 
Lord  appears  and  binds  him  forever.  The  point,  then, 
where  all  the  lines  of  truth  embracing  the  life  of  men  on  the 
earth  meet  and  unite,  is  the  arrival  of  Christ,  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man,  "  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great 
God." 


PERVERSIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  Bible,  as  we  now 
possess  it,  is  a  book  made  up  of  the  writings  of  different 
iften  living  sixteen  hundred  years  apart,  piepared  without 
concert,  containing  history,  law,  poetry,  and  personal  ex- 
perience, many  things  t>^pical,  much  that  is  prophetical, 
and  all  relating  to  modes  of  life  and  conditions  of  society 
entirely  different  from  our  own,  it  would  seem  at  first  sight 
as  though  a  full  comprehension  of  its  contents  was  beyond 
the  power  of  human  attainment.  Well  might  we  shrink 
from  the  attempt,  were  not  the  main  purposes  of  the  Bible 
to  be  discerned  on  its  own  pages,  and  assured  by  our  own 
■experience  and  that  of  those  who  have  lived  before  us. 
Briefly  stated,  the  purposes  of  the  Bible  are  to  enlighten  us 
as  to  our  true  relation  to  our  Creator ;  as  to  our  duties  in 
this  world ;  and  as  to  our  destiny  in  the  world  to  come. 
Filled  as  it  is  with  unfathomable  mysteries,  and  treating  of 
matters  of  which  nothing  can  be  known  certainly  by  per- 
sonal experience,  as  we  are  at  present  constituted,  there  are 
two  fundamental  principles  concerning  its  study,  thus  stated 
by  Ruskin  :  "  That,  without  seeking,  truth  cannot  be  known 
at  all,  and  that,  by  seeking,  it  may  be  discovered  by  the 
simplest.  Without  seeking  it  cannot  be  known  at  all.  It 
can  neither  be  declared  from  pulpits,  nor  set  down  in  Ar- 
ticles, nor  in  any  wise  ^prepared  and  sold'  in  packages 
ready  for  use.  Truth  must  be  ground  for  every  man  for 
himself  out  of  its  husk,  with  such  help  as  he  can  get, 
indeed,  but  not  without  stern  labor  of  his  own.  As  surely 
116 


PERVERSIONS   OF  SCRIPTURE.  117 

as  we  live,  this  trutli  of  truths  can  only  be  so  discerned  : 
to  those  who  act  on  what  they  know,  more  shall  be  re- 
vealed ;  and  thus,  if  any  man  will  do  His  will,  he  shall 
know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God.  Any  man,— 
not  the  man  who  has  the  most  means  of  knowing,  who  has 
the  subtlest  brains,  or  sits  under  the  most  orthodox  preaclier, 
or  who  has  his  library  fullest  of  orthodox  books,  but  the 
man  who  strives  to  know,  who  takes  God  at  His  word,  and 
sets  himself  to  dig  u})  the  heavenly  mystery,  roots  and  all, 
before  sunset,  and  the  night  come,  when  no  man  can  work. 
Beside  such  a  man,  God  stands  in  more  and  more  visible 
presence  as  he  toils,  and  teaches  him  that  which  no  preacher 
can  teach, — no  earthly  authority  gainsay.'^ 

It  is  of  primary  importance  to  the  profitable  reading  of 
the  Scriptures,  that  any  declaration  of  either  fact  or  doctrine, 
should  be  received  and  interpreted  naturally  in  connection 
with  the  context  and  free  from  the  influence  of  any  previ- 
ously accepted  system  of  theology  or  preconceived  notions. 
While  it  may  be  difficult  to  receive  the  Bible  as  a  new 
book,  and  read  it  with  a  mind  absolutely  free  from  associa- 
tions and  ideas  springing  from  early  education,  or  the  influ- 
ence which  the  prevailing  thought  and  preaching  of  the 
former  or  present  time  have  thrown  around  it,  yet  a  diligent 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  with  a  constant  reference  to  the 
object  of  the  writer,  the  circumstances  of  those  to  whom 
the  special  writing  was  directed,  and  a  definite  idea  of  the 
time  or  dispensation  to  which  the  particular  truth  under 
consideration  belonged,  will  save  us  from  that  ignorant 
or  wilful  perversion  of  Eevelation  which  has  so  long  been 
the  bane  of  the  Church.  Many  of  the  carefully  elaborated 
inferences  in  the  sermons  of  the  present  day,  although 
closely  connected  with,  and  perhaps  essential  to,  the  accepted 
systems  of  theology,  are  not  warranted  by,  and  cannot  be 


118  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

(letliiced  from,  the  isolated  passages  upon  which  tliey  are 
based.  While  the  Bible  is  a  Revelation  of  fads  and  truths, 
the  inferences  drawn  from  them  have  in  many  cases  covered 
the  fact  itself  with  the  rubbish  of  luunan  reason,  and  some- 
times have  so  distorted  the  truth  that  to  an  unprejudiced 
mind  it  appears  as  a  hideous  caricature.  This  use  of  fact 
and  truth  is  particularly  marked  in  that  preaching  which 
would  use  external  constraint  to  aid  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit, — that  would  supplant  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
Gospel  by  the  fetters  of  the  ancient  legalism, — that  would 
operate  on  the  senses  of  the  body  and  the  fears  of  the  mind 
in  the  hope  of  saving  the  soul.  The  evil  results  of  such 
teaching  may  be  found  in  the  coldness  and  formality  in  the 
visible  Church,  now  so  prevalent  that  the  few  Gospel  Chris- 
tians whose  hearts  are  withdrawn  from  the  world,  and  who 
are  patiently  waiting  for  the  coming  of  their  Lord,  are  re- 
garded as  "  righteous  overmuch"  and  branded  as  fanatics. 

Among  the  many  detached  texts  from  Scripture  that 
have  thus  been  falsely  construed,  and  made  to  do  a  service 
for  which  they  were  never  intended,  is  that  expression  of 
the  Psalmist,  ''  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and 
all  nations  that  forget  God.''  (Psalm  ix.  17.)  In  the  long- 
continued  controversy  whether  or  not  the  truths  of  a 
future  life  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul  have  been 
revealed  in  the  Old  Testament,  it  has  always  been  claimed 
by  one  side  that  this  text  had  direct  reference  to  the  final 
doom  of  the  ungodly,  while  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
doctrine,  but  simply  refers  to  the  fact  that  all  are  swept 
from  the  earth  by  death.  As  tiiere  are  no  "  nations"  in 
the  future  world,  the  words  can  have  no  application  to 
the  eternal  condition  of  either  of  the  two  classes  of  men. 
Those  who  are  most  competent  to  decide  these  philological 
questions,  upon  which  so  much  depends,  assure  us  that  the 


PERVERSIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  119 

word  wliich  is  here  translated  "  hell"  invariably  means  the 
r/rave  or  the  invisible  state  of  spirits,— that  intermediate 
state  of  souls  between  the  death  and  the  final  resurrection. 
The  word  here  rendered  ''  hell"  is  the  very  same  used  by 
Jacob  when  he  cried,  "  Then  shall  ye  bring  down  my  gray 
hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave''  (Gen.  xlii.  38),  and  by 
David  again,  in  a  passage  subject  to  the  same  misconcep- 
tion, when  he  was  speaking  of  his  enemies,  ''Let  death 
SL'ize  upon  them,  and  let  them  go  down  quick  into  helJP 
(Psalm  Iv.  15),  or,  as  it  is  correctly  rendered  in  the  mar- 
ginal reading,  ''  the  grave,"  or,  as  it  is  literally  given  in 
Leaser's  version,  "  Let  them  go  down  alive  in  the  nether 
world."  The  same  word  was  also  used  by  Jonah  wiien  he 
spoke  of  his  burial  in  the  body  of  the  fish,  ''Out  of  the 
belly  of  hell  cried  I,"  or,  as  it  is  literally  translated  in 
Leeser's  Jewish  Bible,  "  Out  of  the  depths  of  the  grave 
I  have  cried."  The  "  hades"  spoken  of  in  these  and  many 
other  passages,  is  the  place  of  disembodied  spirits,  which, 
doing  neither  good  nor  evil,  are  awaiting  the  last  judgment. 
The  Church,  generally,  teaches  that  sinners  do  immediately 
after  death  enter  into  an  eternal  destiny  of  torment,  and  the 
saints  into  their  glory,— that  is,  before  the  time  when  Christ 
will  come  to  take  His  Church  to  Heaven,  and  His  saints 
shall  receive  their  glorified  bodies, — a  doctrine  which, 
whether  true  or  false,  is  certainly  not  established  by  texts 
of  this  character. 

There  is  a  clause  in  the  twelfth  verse  of  the  fourth 
chapter  of  Amos,  "  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God,"  that  is  almost 
invariably  used  in  a  wrong  sense.  The  reading  of  the 
whole  chapter  makes  it  apparent  that  the  words  were  pri- 
marily and  only  intended  for  God^s  chosen  people,  Israel, 
warning  them  that  continued  persistence  in  their  course  of 
disobedience  would  cause  Him  to  bring  upon  them,  in  a 


120  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

fatherly  spirit,  a  course  of  discipline  of  a  temporal  nature, 
in  the  destruction  of  crops  and  vineyards,  that  would  insure 
their  return  and  submission  to  Him.  This  phrase  is  fre- 
quently, if  not  always,  used  to  intimidate  sinners  by  awak- 
ening a  slavish  fear  of  future  eternal  punishment  at  the 
hands  of  an  angry  God,  with  the  mistaken  idea  that  the 
emotions  thus  produced  will  be  the  means  of  leading  them 
to  Christ  and  converting  their  souls.  Such  glaring  per- 
versions of  the  truth  work  only  injury  to  the  Church,  and 
have  a  tendency  to  make  the  ^'almost"  but  not  "alto- 
gether" Christians,  such  as  are  neither  hot  nor  cold,  and 
who  are  no  honor  to  Christ  and  His  cause. 

How  often  have  we  heard  exhortations  to  immediate  re- 
pentance based  upon,  or  enforced  by,  the  words  of  Solo- 
mon, 'Mnd  if  the  tree  fall  toward  the  south,  or  toward  the 
north,  in  the  place  where  the  tree  falleth,  there  it  shall 
be'' !  Torn  from  their  connection,  these  words  of  the  wise 
man  are  used  to  prove  the  statement,  that  as  death  over- 
takes you,  so  Avill  judgment  find  you, — as  though  judgment 
had  not  been  passing  on  man  since  the  fall  of  Adam,  or  as 
though  death  was  not  the  eifect  following  close  upon  the 
cause.  Solomon  was  not  alluding  to  anything  of  a  spiritual 
or  eternal  nature,  but  was  speaking  of  "  the  things  done 
under  the  sun,''  of  the  wisdom  needed  by  men  in  the  ordi- 
nary transactions  and  social  intercourse  of  human  life  on 
the  earth.  If  there  be  in  the  Old  Testament  any  clear 
declarations  of  the  future  life,  this  passage  is  not  one  of 
them.  At  first  sight  the  abrupt  injection  of  this  clause  in 
a  short  discourse  concerning  the  duties  of  charity  may  be 
slightly  perplexing,  but,  following  closely  after  a  beautiful 
example  of  bounteous  giving  taken  from  the  course  of 
nature, — the  clouds  full  of  rain  emptying  upon  the  earth, — 
the   natural   and    most   satisfactory  interpretation   is  that 


PERVERSIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  121 

which  regards  the  words  in  question  as  a  warning  against 
delay  in  the  performance  of  those  charitable  duties  which 
seem  to  be  imperative.  What  follows  in  the  next  and  the 
succeeding  verses,  is  not  only  in  harmony  with  this  inter- 
pretation, but  seems  to  be  strongly  confirmatory. 

In  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew,  at  the  thirty-first 
verse,  there  is  the  thrilling  description  of  the  coming  of  the 
Sou  of  man  in  His  glory,  when  He  will  judge  the  Gentile 
nations.  The  "sheep'^  and  the  "goats,"  the  believers  and 
the  unbelievers,  ^'  all  nations,''  are  gathered  before  Christ  on 
His  throne.  Careless  readers  of  the  Word  infer  from  this 
passage,  that  there  are  but  two  classes  into  which  all  men 
are  divided.  But  where  are  the  Jews, — God's  chosen,  pe- 
culiar people?  Where  are  those  of  whom  the  Lord  said  by 
the  mouth  of  Balaam,  "the  people  shall  dioell  alone,  and 
shall  not  be  y^echoned  among  the  nations, ^^  and  are  spoken  of 
by  Hosea  as  '^abiding  many  days"  without  "  King,  sacrifice, 
ephod,  or  teraphim," — all  those  strongly-marked  character- 
istics of  national  and  church  life  which  had  been  the  glory 
of  the  children  of  Israel, — but  who  would  return  to  seek 
and  "  fear  the  Lord  and  His  goodness  in  the  latter  days^'  ? 
They  are  not  included  among  those  gathered  before  the 
throne;  they  are  not  7^eckoned  among  "all  nations;"  but 
they  are  the  third  party  referred  to  by  the  words,  "my 
brethren.^^  In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  that 
scattered  all  through  the  prophecies,  the  first  three  Gospels, 
and  the  Apocalypse  are  many  statements  of  truths  and 
declarations  of  facts,  closely  related  to  and  coinciding  w^ith 
each  other,  which  do  not  concern  the  grace-saint  in  any 
other  than  a  typical  sense,  but  have  a  direct  reference  to 
the  future  perfected  Jewish  dispensation  which  is  to  find 
place  on  the  earth  in  "  the  latter  days,"  the  glory  of  which 
is  so  graphically  portrayed   in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of 


122  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

Zecliariah,  and  in  the  sixtieth  to  the  sixty-fifth  chapters, 
inclusive,  of  Isaiah. 

One  of  the  most  unaccountable  misapplications  of  Scrip- 
ture truth  may  be  found  in  the  manner  which  many  Chris- 
tians and  some  commentators  use  certain  passages  in  Isaiah. 
That  passage  beginning  at  seventeenth  verse  of  forty-second 
ciiapter,  ending  with  the  chapter,  is  supposed  to  refer  to 
JTacob, — the  Jews, — while  the  first  eight  verses  of  the  suc- 
ceeding chapter  are  appropriated  to  the  Gospel  Church  ; 
and,  again,  from  the  twenty-first  verse  of  forty-third  chap- 
ter to  the  close,  is  applied  to  Jacob,  while  the  first  nine 
verses  of  the  forty-fourth  chaj)ter  are  taken  for  the  Gospel 
Church.  The  absurdity  of  giving  all  the  threatening  and 
reproofs  to  others,  and  appropriating  to  ourselves  all  their 
comfort  and  blessing,  becomes  very  evident  on  a  consecutive 
reading  of  the  whole  chapters.  The  entire  portion  is  ex- 
clusively intended  for  and  addressed  to  the  Jews, — one  peo- 
ple. Doubtless,  in  these  instances,  as  in  many  others,  the 
confusion  arising  in  the  mind  of  tlie  ordinary  reader  is 
caused  by  the  iintrustwortliy  and  often  false  headings  of  the 
chapters  by  whicli  many  of  our  English  Bibles  are  disfig- 
ured. In  both  cases  referred  to  the  headline  of  the  forty- 
third  and  forty-fourth  chapters  reads,  ''  The  Lord  comfort- 
eth  the  church  with  His  promises.^'  It  is  difficult,  from 
the  force  of  habit,  to  read  the  Bible  without  regard  to  the 
arbitrary  divisions  of  chapters  and  uninfluenced  by  the 
perverse  headings;  yet  those  who  Avould  seriously  study 
the  Word,  and  gain  its  true  meaning,  must  i)ass  these  by 
as  a  human  contrivance  valuable  only  for  convenience. 

The  seven  parables  of  our  Lord  recorded  in  the  thir- 
teenth chapter  of  Matthew,  exhibiting  the  entire  develop- 
ment of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  its  general  outlines  from 
its  beginning  to  its  final  consummation,  have  been  the  sub- 


PERVERSIONS   OF  SCRIPTURE.  123 

jects  of  misconception,  and  have  been  strangely  wrested 
from  their  true  purpose.  It  has  been  assumed  that  the 
"  grain  of  mustard-seed"  grown  into  a  tree  represents  the 
true  Church  of  God,  when  in  fact  it  is  only  the  outward 
cliurch-form  of  the  Kingdom  in  the  branches  of  which 
"  the  birds  of  the  air" — the  false  doctrines  and  human  in- 
ventions of  Christendom — find  lodging.  The  beasts  of  the 
field  and  the  birds  of  the  air,  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in 
Revelation,  are  symbols  of  the  masses  of  corru])t  human 
nature.  Christ,  in  His  explanation  of  the  parable  of  the 
sower,  speaks  of  the  devil  as  the  bird  of  the  air  that  takes 
the  AVord  or  good  seed  out  of  the  heart.  Isaiah  speaks  of 
the  way  in  which  the  "  fowls  of  the  mountain  and  beasts  of 
the  earth"  have  fed  upon  and  trodden  down  God's  chosen 
people. 

In  considering  the  meaning  of  these  wonderful  parables 
of  our  Lord,  it  must  be  remembered  that  although  spoken 
about  the  same  time,  and  referring  to  the  same  general  sub- 
ject, the  first  four  were  spoken  to  the  multitudes  from 
the  ship,  but  the  last  three  to  His  own  chosen  disciples  in 
the  house,  so  that  the  persons  to  whom  they  were  addressed 
must  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  interpretation.  In 
the  first  parable,  to  the  disciples  alone  ^^  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven"  is  likened  ^' unto  treasure  hid  in  the  field;  the 
which  when  a  man  hath  found,  he  hideth,  and  for  joy 
thereof  goeth  and  selleth  all  that  he  hath,  and  buyeth  that 
field."  A  popular  interpretation  of  this  parable  among 
Christians,  frequently  heard  from  the  pulpit  and  met  on 
the  pages  of  biblical  exposition,  but  for  which  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  find  any  basis  in  the  i^xi,  is  that  Christ  is  the 
"  treasure,"  and  that  for  *' joy"  at  this  discovery  the  sinner 
"  goeth  and  selleth  all  that  he  hath"  to  buy  the  treasure, — 
as  thoujrh  Christ  or  His  truth  ever  were  or  could  be  ^Mn'd  " 


124  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

or  the  unrenewed  soul  should,  as  it  were,  stumble  on  Christ 
and  joyfully  give  up  all  to  gain  Him.     Of  the  many  per- 
versions of  scriptural  truth,  this  seems  the  most  amazing. 
The  hid  "  treasure"  is  Christ's  redeemed  Church, — those  for 
whom  He  died,  who  in  every  age  by  faith  accept  Him. 
He  saw  His  ''treasure"  covered  with  the  rubbisli  of  a  sin- 
cursed  world.  He  gave  up  all   He  possessed  for  it,  ran- 
somed it  with  His  blood,  He  left  His  purchased  possession 
in  the   world,  but  wmII   come  again  to  claim  it.     In  the 
mean  time  its  true  life  is  "hid  with  Christ  in  God,''  and  its 
glory  will  not  be  fully  manifested  until  He  who  is  its  "  life 
shall  appear,  when  it  shall  also  appear  with  Him  in  glory." 
The  "  pearl  of  great  price"  is  an  emblem  of  the  Church  as 
it  appears  to  the   Redeemer,   pure,   spotless,  and  entire. 
The  concluding  parable  of  the  net  is  one  that  to  the  Jews, 
to  whom  so  many  kinds  offish  were  an  abomination  by  the 
Mosaic  law,  had  a  peculiar  force.     The  net  is  the  drag-net 
of  the  Gospel,  passing  through  all  nations,  gathering  within 
its  folds  both  good  and  bad.     The  fi.^h  having  neither  fins 
nor  scales,  living  in  the  mire  and  filth  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  will,  when  the  net  is  dragged  to  the  shore,  be  separated 
from  the  fish  that  by  aid  of  fins  live  in  the  clear  water  in 
the  light  of  the  sun. 

There  has  been,  and  there  now  is,  prevalent  in  the  visible 
Church  an  idea  that  it  is  in  full  possession  of  all  the  truth  of 
Revelation, — that  the  researches  of  great  theologians  and  the 
labors  of  men  of  mighty  intellect  have  so  thoroughly 
explored  the  dark  recesses  of  the  deep  mine,  that  there 
remains  but  little  to  reward  the  diligent  student  of  God's 
Word.  The  strong  temptation  is  to  rely  more  for  the  eluci- 
dation and  understanding  of  the  sacred  text  upon  the  archaeo- 
logical, philological,  and  scientific  discoveries  of  learned 
men,  which    usually  have    more   direct   reference   to  the 


PERVERSIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  125 

literal  signification  of  the  record,  tlian  to  the  revealed  truth 
of  which  it  is  simply  the  expression  or  means  of  commu- 
nication, than  upon  the  personal  exhaustive  study  of  the 
truth  itself,  regarded  as  a  revelation  of  God's  eternal  glory 
and  His  will  concerning  man's  life  on  earth  and  his  future 
destiny.  These  discoveries  of  science  are  of  profound  in- 
terest and  great  value  to  all  who  will  make  the  proper  use 
of  them,  and  find  in  them  the  evidences  of  harmony  and 
agreement  between  the  records  of  God  as  shown  in  Scrip- 
ture, in  the  whole  constitution  of  man,  and  in  the  realm 
of  nature,  even  though  the  scientist  had  prosecuted  his 
researches  with  other  and  far  different  purposes.  But  the 
fiiith  in  and  personal  profit  to  be  derived  from  searching 
the  Scriptures  as  for  hid  treasures  are  not  dependent  upon, 
while  they  may  be  aided  by,  the  results  and  discoveries  of 
human  wnsdom.  Neither  are  they  the  product  of  a  special 
illumination  of  the  natural  mind  by  the  supernatural  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit,  an  enlightenment  of  defective 
reason,  or  an  enlargement  of  the  mental  faculties.  There 
is,  however,  as  Henry  Dunn  remarks,  "A  blessed  indwell- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit, — the  only  influence  we  are  author- 
ized to  seek  and  pray  for, — which  is  not  intellectual,  but 
moral ;  which  is  inseparable  from  candor,  love  of  truth, 
and  obedience  generally;  which  manifests  itself  in  growing 
sympathy  with  the  Divine  character;  and  which,  therefore, 
involves  clearer  perceptions  of,  and  a  deeper  insight  into, 
the  Divine  mind  and  will,  as  exhibited  in  the  Bible,  than 
can  be  obtained  in  any  other  way."  This  is  a  purely  nat- 
ural process, — natural  in  the  sense  that  it  works  in  perfect 
accordance  not  only  with  the  moral  and  mental  powers  of 
humanity  as  a  race,  but  with  special  adaptation  to  the  par- 
ticular individual.  The  influence  of  the  revealed  truth  of 
God,  entering  into  human  life  from  a  supernatural  point 


126  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

indeed,  yet  like  any  other  force  in  human  progress,  ^vorks 
organically  and  naturally  in  its  development,  first,  in  each 
individual  soul,  and  then,  as  a  result,  through  the  entire 
Church.  Accepted  and  yielded  to  by  each  soul,  it  becomes 
a  corrective  of  those  pernicious  delusions  of  enthusiastic 
minds,  which  seem  ever  ready  to  break  out  in  the  Church 
and  make  its  record  one  of  tyranny  and  violence. 

By  tiiis  "indwelling  of  the  Spirit"  the  revelation  given 
to  an  ancient  people  remains  to  us  an  ever  new  and  vital 
force,  constantly  enlarging  the  s})here  of  human  thought 
and  bringing  it  into  closer  sympathy  and  union  with  its 
Divine  Source.  The  Scripture  thus  vitalized,  is  not  and 
cannot  be  a  dead  letter  to  the  Church  of  the  present  or 
the  future  age.  AYe  have  all  that  was  embraced  in  the 
revelation  to  the  prophets  and  apostles,  and  vastly  more, 
for  we  have  seen  the  truth  adapting  itself  not  only  to  the 
development  of  God's  purposes,  but  to  the  increasing  ex- 
perience of  Christian  consciousness.  While  it  is  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  state  clearly  in  words  just  what  that 
*'  blessed  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit"  is,  or  to  accurately 
define  the  modes  of  its  operations  in  diverse  hearts  and 
minds,  yet  it  is  an  actual  and  real  fact  in  the  experience  of 
each  Christian,  a  something  which  can  be  appealed  to  in 
his  own  consciousness,  the  results  of  which  are  perfectly 
satisfactory  to  his  own  mind,  and  the  guidance  and  powers 
of  which  in  his  daily  life  he  frankly  and  gratefully  ac- 
knowledges. There  are  but  few  Christians  who  will  not 
say  with  S.  T.  Coleridge,  after  he  had  read  all  the  books  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  each  book  as  a  whole  and 
also  as  an  integral  part,  that  he  has  found  everywhere 
"  copious  sources  of  truth  and  power  and  purifying  im- 
pulses,— found  words  for  my  inmost  thoughts,  songs  for 
my  joys,  utterances  for  my  hidden  griefs,  and  pleadings  for 


PERVERSIONS   OF  SCRIPTURE.  127 

my  shame  and  feebleness.  In  short,  whatever  finds  me 
bears  witness  for  itself  that  it  has  prooeedetl  from  a  Holy 
Spirit,  even  from  the  samj  Spirit  which,  remaining  in 
itself,  yet  regenerateth  all  other  powers,  and,  in  all  ages 
entering  into  holy  souls,  maketh  them  friends  of  God  and 
prophets."  There  have  been  those  who  claimed  to  be  so 
fully  under  the  influence  of  the  'indwelling  of  the  Spirit" 
that  they  have  received  communications  of  Divine  truth 
separate  from  or  even  independent  of  the  scriptural  record. 
This  is  a  dangerous  perversion  of  truth,  a  delusion  of  vain 
human  wisdom. 

There  is  for  some  minds  a  peculiar  fascination  in  the 
study  of  the  unfulfilled  prophecies  of  the  Bible,  while 
others  regard  the  same  portion  of  Scripture  truth  with  a 
feeling  akin  to  fear.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  some 
ground  for  fear,  for,  while  there  is  probably  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  every  reader,  instances  where  men  and  women  have 
been  carried  into  insanity  by  exclusive  devotion  to  some 
form  of  prophetic  interpretation,  there  are  also  periods  in 
the  history  of  the  Church  when  the  wild  fanaticism  of  dog- 
matic and  confident  interpretation  of  mystic  utterances,  has 
wellnigh  destroyed,  not  only  the  common  sense  but  the 
piety  of  the  multitudes  infected  by  it.  Admitting  fully  the 
difficulties  and  the  dangers  that  may  beset  the  path,  the 
fact  remains  that  the  prophecies  form  a  large  part  of  the 
Divine  revelation,  and  are  therefore  proper  subjects  for 
dilio-ent,  careful  studv.  The  benefits  to  be  derived  are  of 
great  value.  An  assurance  of  faith,  a  fixity  of  purpose, 
and  an  unwavering  trust  in  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God 
may  be  gained  from  the  study  of  the  many  prophecies 
which  have  already  been  accomplished.  We  will  lose  a 
part  of  our  rightful  portion  if  we  neglect  that  "  sure  word 
of  prophecy  to  which  we  do  ivell  to  take  heed."     AVe  have 


128  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

a  positive  exhortation  to  the  study  of  unfulfilled  propliecy 
in  the  words  of  John,  when  he  would  "show  the  things 
which  must  shortly  come  to  pass''  in  the  blessing  promised 
to  him  "  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  this 
prophecy,  and  keep  these  things  which  are  written  therein." 
Here,  then,  in  the  Apocalypse,  w^here  is  prophetically  re- 
corded the  history  of  the  Church  between  the  death  and  the 
return  of  its  Lord,  may  be  found  a  region  where  believers 
may  study  the  Divine  purposes  with  interest  aifd  profit. 
The  ingenious  inventions  and  conflicting  conclusions  of 
learned  commentators  greatly  increase  the  difficulty  of  gain- 
ing the  real  meaning  of  the  symbolical  language;  but,  read 
in  proper  connection  with  parallel  passages,  and  in  humble 
dependence  upon  "the  blessed  indwelling  of  the  Holy 
Spirit/'  the  Revelation  of  St.  John  will  yield  a  rich  harvest 
to  every  Christian. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  note  the  many  perversions  that 
cluster  about  the  scriptural  prophecies.  One  source,  how- 
ever, from  which  they  spring  is  worthy  of  attention.  Among 
the  unfulfilled  prophecies  of  Scripture  there  may  be  found 
a  large  class  which,  while  having  a  direct  reference  to 
events  of  the  national  Jewish  life,  do  yet  stretch  forward  to 
a  period  in  the  future,  reaching  from  the  hour  when  they 
were  uttered  to  the  time  w^hen  the  purpose  of  Divine 
Providence  shall  be  completed.  Abrupt  transitions  so 
break  up  their  continuity  that  the  path  cannot  be  clearly 
traced,— ages  of  time  intervene  between  events  that  to 
human  sight  should  follow^  each  other  in  rapid  succession. 
Accurately  and  very  definitely  predicting  events  which 
have  happened  to  the  nation,  tlie  prophecies  are  sometimes 
expressed  in  language  that,  seeming  to  bear  a  double  mean- 
ing, connects  them  with  other  events  still  in  the  future. 
In  any  endeavor  to  catch  the  truth  which  may  be  hidden 


PERVERSIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.  129 

under  these  symbolical  and  mystical  words,  the  first  ques- 
tions, upon  the  answer  to  which  depends  our  proper  knowl- 
edge, must  be, — "To  whom,  and  for  what  purpose,  were 
these  prophecies  of  futurity  given  ?''  In  reply,  we  would 
make  tlie  general  observation  that  the  prophecies  of  the 
Old  Testament,  including  promises  of  good  for  well-doing, 
threaten! ngs  of  evil  for  breach  of  moral  law,  and  fierce  de- 
nunciations of  wrath  for  departures  from  Jehovah,  w^ere 
spoken  to  the  Jewish  nation,  with  special  and  primary 
application  to  it  only,  and  that  when  the  course  and 
destiny  of  any  other  nation  come  into  view,  it  is  by  reason 
of  some  immediate  connection  with  the  chosen  people  and 
the  declared  purpose  to  be  wrought  out  by  them.  Tlie 
prerogatives  divinely  granted  to  the  children  of  Abraham, 
the  fruitful  land  given  to  them  for  an  inheritance  by  Jeho- 
vah, the  future  happiness  and  welfare  of  the  human  race, 
inseparably  connected  in  some  mysterious  manner  with  the 
life  and  continuance  of  their  nation,  are  the  subjects  which 
underlie  and  influence  every  prediction  of  future  events. 
Resting  upon  the  secure  foundation  built  for  them,  as  they 
believed,  by  the  authoritative  promises  and  declarations  of 
their  God,  the  Hebrew  Seers  could  not,  without  violence  to 
their  faith,  predict  that  which  would  be  contrary  to  any 
prior  statements  of  Jehovah,  or  take  any  special  cognizance 
of  matters  distinct  from  their  national  history.  I^rom  the 
remote  period  when  the  first  promise  was  given  to  Abra- 
ham, up  to  the  hour  when  the  whole  series  shall  have  cul- 
minated in  the  covenanted  ingathering  and  restoration  of 
the  chosen  people,  there  is  not  embraced  in  the  Old-Testa- 
ment prophecies  a  single  one  that  did  not  find  its  source  in 
Jewish  national  or  ecclesiastical  life,  having  primary  refer- 
ence to  the  Jewish  nation,  and  applying  incidentally  to 
other  nations  only  as  they  were  in  some  measure  connected 


130  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

with  the  Israelites.  If  this  be  the  correct  theory  of  the 
ancient  Jewish  ])rophecies,  their  true  purport  can  never  be 
gained  by  any  mere  compilation  of  detached  proof  passages, 
or  by  deductions  and  inferences  from  scattered  texts.  It 
must  be  reached,  if  at  all,  by  a  living  and  sympathetic 
insight  into  the  true  S])irit  and  thought  which  were  the 
moving  impulses  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  prophet  at 
tlie  time  of  utterance.  In  pursuance  of  this  idea,  let  an 
examination  be  made  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  which  has  well 
been  said  "  to  embrace  and  to  comprehend  and,  in  one  sense, 
at  once  to  recapitulate  the  revelations  of  all  preceding  ages, 
and  to  foreshow  the  revelations  that  were  yet  to  come.'' 
The  canons  of  the  moral  law  are  clearly  enunciated,  and 
with  them  is  combined  the  essence  of  the  Gospel  of  the 
Messiah.  The  rules  of  morality  governing  the  relations 
of  man  with  his  fellow,  find  place  in  the  earnest  protests 
for  truth,  justice,  and  mercy,  in  the  scathing  denunciations 
of  opi)ression  and  cruelty,  and  in  the  tender  exhortations 
to  the  care  of  the  widows,  the  fatherless,  and  the  afflicted. 
The  emotions  and  aspirations  of  the  spiritual  life,  yearning 
for  the  satisfaction  springing  only  from  communion  with 
the  Infinite  Father,  are  voiced  more  distinctly  by  Isaiah 
than  by  any  other  writer  of  the  Old  Testament,  excepting, 
perliaps,  the  authors  of  some  of  the  Psalms.  A  pure  the- 
ology, and  a  code  of  ethics  unsurpassed  by  any  other  than 
that  announced  by  Christ,  may  be  found  in  these  pages. 
These  strongly-marked  characteristics  of  the  teachings  of 
Isaiali,  in  which  more  nearly  than  any  other  Jewish  writer 
he  approaches  the  perfection  of  Christ,  combined  with  the 
fact  that  he  has  predicted  a  future  state  of  earthly  peace 
and  happiness  for  all  men,  perhaps  give  the  reason  why  so 
many  Christians  of  this  age,  misled  by  an  apparent  coin- 
cidence between  that  era  predicted  by  the  prophet,  and  that 


PERVERSIONS   OF  SCRIPTURE.  131 

wliich  they  have  fondly  hoped  would  result  from  the  proc- 
lamation of  the  Gospel  of  Grace,  have,  with  violence  to  the 
whole  spirit  and  import  of  the  author,  and  with  utter  dis- 
regard to  the  preceding  causes  and  conditions  of  this  future 
happy  condition  of  human  affairs,  wrested  his  words  from 
their  proper  connection  with  the  nation  for  whom  they  were 
intended,  and  ai)plied  them  to  the  Church  of  the  present 
Dispensation.  Broad  and  catholic  as  Isaiah  is  in  his  decla- 
rations, they  are  all  limited  by  clear  references  to  Jacob^ 
Israel,  Jerusalem,  and  Zion,— are  qualified  by  the  authori- 
tative statement  of  Jehovah,  "  This  people  have  I  formed 
for  myself;  they  shall  show  forth  my  praise."  Many  of 
the  bright  pictures  of  peaceful  rural  life,  addressed  to  "  Ja- 
cob my  servant,  and  Israel  whom  I  have  chosen,"  which 
conveyed  to  the  minds  of  the  Jews  very  definite  ideas  of 
the  earthly  prosperity  and  hai)piness  which  were  always 
associated  with  the  prevalence  and  triumph  of  their  religion, 
have  been  torn  from  their  appropriate  position  and  accepted 
as  prophecies  of  a  supposed  condition  of  human  affairs  re- 
sulting from  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  the  diffusion 
of  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  So,  indeed,  they  may  be  in  a 
certain  restricted  sense,  but  will  become  such  only  by  and 
through  God's  ancient  people.  The  "singing  of  the  heav- 
ens" and  the  "breaking  forth  into  singing"  of  the  moun- 
tains, the  forests,  and  the  trees,  the  gladness  of  the  wilder- 
ness and  the  solitary  places,  the  rejoicing  of  the  desert  and 
its  blossoming  as  the  rose,  have  been,  and  will  be  again, 
"  because  the  Lord  hath  redeemed  Jacob  and  glorified  Him- 
self in  Israel."  The  time  when  nations  shall  not  "learn 
war  any  more,"  when  "swords  shall  be  beaten  into  plough- 
shares, and  spears  into  pruning-hooks,"  will  be  when  the 
people  shall  say,  "  Let  us  go  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord,  to 
the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob."    Partly  through  ignorance 


132  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

and  carelessness,  sometimes  from  the  misleading  head-lines 
of  many  editions  of  our  Bibles,  but  oftener,  perhaps,  from 
the  unconscious  belief  that  just  what  the  prophet  predicts 
should,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  be  the  legitimate 
fruits  of  Gosj)el  truth,  Christians  read  these  prophecies  of 
future  events  that  are  to  take  place  when  Israel  shall  have 
accepted  her  Messiah,  as  statements  of  that  which  relates  to 
the  Christian  Church  of  the  present  Dispensation.  They 
tal^e  that  which  was  given  to  an  earthly  Church,  to  which 
immortality  had  not  been  clearly  revealed,  and  by  a  spirit- 
ualizing process,  for  which  there  is  no  scriptural  warrant, 
apply  it  to  a  Church  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ, 
spiritual  in  birth  and  life, — a  body  belonging  not  to  time, 
but  to  eternity ;  not  to  earth,  but  to  heaven.  Forgetting 
the  truth  that  the  Church  of  Christ  has  no  part  in  the  ways 
of  God  with  Israel  and  the  earth,  ignoring  the  fact  that 
tiiere  is  a  great  break,  a  long  interval,  between  the  rejection 
and  crucifixion  of  the  Messiah  by  the  Jews  and  His  coming 
to  the  earth  for  His  redeemed  saints,  which  is  not  referred 
to  by  the  Jewish  prophets, — a  ])eriod  of  time  important  as 
it  may  be  to  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  but  which  yet  does  not 
form  any  subject  of  prophecy, — Christians  plunge  them- 
selves into  inextricable  confusion,  and  fail  to  enjoy  that 
calm  confidence  and  firm  assurance  which  they  should  have 
in  contemplating  the  unfolding  of  the  plans  of  Divine 
Providence,  by  appropriating  to  a  spiritual  and,  while  on 
the  earth,  a  subjective  Church,  that  which  was  intended 
for,  and  given  to,  a  material  and  objective  Church  under  a 
legal  economy. 


ORGANIZATION. 

Wherea^er  the  word  church  is  used  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, its  primary  meaning  is  an  assembly  or  congregation 
of  men.  At  times  it  certainly  signifies  all  of  the  human 
race  who  have  been,  are,  or  will  be  the  subjects  of  God's 
special  love,— the  entire  number  of  the  elect, — those  who  at 
the  appearing  of  Christ  will  compose  the  Bride,  the  LamVs 
wife.  Again,  it  has  a  wider  signification,  including  all 
those  who  are  professed  believers  in  Christ.  When  thus 
used  it  embraces  good  and  bad,  wheat  and  tares,  sheep  and 
p-oats,  clean  fish  and  unclean.  It  is  in  this  broad  sense 
that  we  now  employ  the  term  in  considering  the  "  organi- 
zation,^^ which  by  reason  of  its  close  connection  with  the 
C-hurch  is  too  often  supposed  to  be  a  part  of  it,  and 
regarded  as  essential  to  its  existence. 

If  one  would  carefully  study  all  the  words  of  Christ  and 
the  directions  of  the  Apostles  relative  to  the  formation  and 
government  of  the  congregations  or  assemblies  of  men, 
and  then  endeavor  to  discover  in  them  even  the  germs  of 
that  stupendous  organization  commonly  called  the  Church, 
he  Avould  be  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Apostles  had 
no  adequate  idea  of  the  importance  of  their  mission,  else 
they  would  have  given  more  specific  directions  concerning 
the  visible  manifestation  of  the  truth  they  were  preaching, 
or  that  the  mind  of  man,  gathering  wisdom  by  the 
experience  of  years,  had  devised  and  put  into  operation  a 
more  excellent  method  of  accomplishing  the  desired  result. 
A  review  of  the  history  of  the  Church  from  the  Apostolic 

133 


134  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

age  to  the  j)erIod  of  the  Reformation,  reveals  a  growth  of 
organization  and  an  expansion  of  machinery  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world,  but  with  these  a  constant  increase  of 
error  with  a  corresponding  retrogression  in  morals.  In  the 
early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  the  Church  had  fallen 
into  a  sad  condition  of  ignorance,  decay,  and  delusion. 
Heart-sick  with  the  contemplation  of  tiie  Church  record  of 
this  period,  we  may  w^ell  say  with  Isaac  Taylor,  "  The  his- 
tory of  Christianity  !  Alas,  the  ominous  words,  which  sink 
like  a  mortal  chill  into  the  heart!  Christianity  has  abso- 
lutely no  difficulties,  or  none  that  ought  for  a  moment  to 
stagger  a  sound  and  well-informed  mind, — none  excepting 
such  as  attach  to  its  history ;  but  these,  although  clearly 
separable  from  the  question  of  its  own  divine  origin,  yet 
how  serious  and  disheartening  they  are !  The  Christian,  if 
he  would  enjoy  any  serenity,  should  either  know  nothing 
of  the  history  of  his  religion,  or  he  should  be  acquainted 
with  it  so  profoundly  as  to  have  satisfied  himself  that  the 
dark  surmises,  which  had  tormented  his  solitary  medita- 
tions, have  no  substantial  bearing  upon  the  principles  of 
his  faith."  The  character  and  specific  quality  of  the  course 
of  events  in  the  ancient  Church  was  the  "perpetual  super- 
position of  materials  upon  the  apostolic  foundation,  at  the 
capricious  bidding  of  superstition,  enthusiasm,  fanaticism, 
spiritual  tyranny,  craft,  and  hypocrisy."  A  suspicion, 
growing  at  times  to  a  conviction,  comes  into  the  mind  that 
we  of  the  modern  Church  are  following  in  the  course  of  the 
ancient,  employing  the  same  methods  and  attaining  similar 
results,  modified  only  by  the  circumstances  of  the  age  and 
the  progress  of  the  sciences. 

While  we  admit  that  the  general  aspect  of  the  Gospel 
economy  might  seem  to  warrant  a  condition  of  human 
aflPairs  far  different  from  that  which  history  has  recorded. 


ORGANIZATIOy.  135 

and  that  tliore  would  seem  to  be  some  substantial  basis  in 
the  predictions  of  the  Jewish  prophets  for  our  hopes  of  the 
prevalence  of  tliat  era  of  peace,  purity,  and  happiness  that 
was  to  succeed  the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  yet  the  Chris- 
tian^s  faith,  in  contem|>lating  the  seasons  of  deep  darkness 
that  have  j)assed,  tiie  coldness,  depression,  and  formality, 
which  seem  to  envelop  the  Church  of  the  present,  or  the 
"  perilous  times"  that  must  come  on  the  earth  in  the  future, 
may  be  sustained  by  two  facts  of  Revelation, — the  repeated 
announcements,  made  by  Christ  to  His  followers,  of  perse- 
cution, universal  hatred,  and  cruel  death,  as  far  as  they 
were  personally  concerned,  and  a  widespread,  deep-seated 
corruption  of  the  pure  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints; 
and,  as  the  Jews  waited  long  for  the  advent  of  the  pre- 
dicted Messiah,  so,  in  the  development  of  God's  providen- 
tial plans,  may  His  oivn  Churchy  in  its  true  sense,  wait  long 
for  His  promised  reappearance  to  receive  it  to  Himself, 
learning  in  the  mean  while  by  painful  experience  that  with 
her  Lord  '^  a  thousand  years  is  as  one  day.'' 

A  primitive  Church,  as  we  find  it  in  Scripture  and  the 
imperfect  records  of  that  age,  was  a  simple  association  of 
men  and  women  having  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son 
of  God,  impelled  by  a  desire  to  follow  His  precepts  and  to 
obey  His  last  words  by  "being  witnesses  unto  Him  unto 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth."  The  strong  personal  love 
which  each  had  for  a  common  Saviour  formed  a  band  of 
union  that  persecution  could  not  sever.  By  the  word  of 
Christ  no  form  of  organization  was  declared.  Those 
present  at  the  ascension  of  Christ  were  told  "  to  wait  for 
the  [)romise,"  the  "  power"  which  was  to  follow  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  "  not  many  days  hence." 
When  this  supernatural  power — the  gifts  of  tongues  and 
of  healing — came   upon   the   three  thousand  that  gladly 


136  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

received  the  words  of  Peter,  "  they  continued  steadfastly 
in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  in  breaking  of 
bread,  and  in  prayers.'^  The  primitive  Church,  under  the 
immediate  ministry  of  the  Apostles,  and  ])erhaps  for  a 
short  time  after  their  death,  enjoyed  a  ^'  power"  of  the 
Spirit  far  beyond  and  above  that  which  has  been  granted 
to  the  Church  for  many  centuries.  From  the  repeated 
references  in  the  Epistles  to  the  "  coming  of  Christ,"  and 
^e  exhortations  that  abound  to  all  to  be  in  readiness  for 
that  "coming,"  it  is  evident  that  there  was  in  the  minds  of 
the  early  Christians  an  expectation  that  "  this  same  Jesus," 
who  had  been  so  suddenly  and  supernaturally  taken  from 
them,  would  "  so  come  in  like  manner"  again  from  the 
clouds  of  heaven.  The  early  records  make  apparent  the 
fact  that  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  supernatural 
p  )\ver  conferred  upon  believers,  was  followed  by  the  wan- 
ing and  beclouding  of  the  hope  of  Christ's  reappearance 
to  take  full  possession  of  the  earth.  It  is  very  probable 
that  even  before  Peter  died  he  had  heard  of  some  who 
scoffingly  asked,  "Where  is  the  promise  of  His  coming?" 
and  sustained  the  scoff  by  appeals  to  the  continuance  of  all 
things  as  they  were  from  the  beginning.  The  faith  of  the 
Church  in  the  speedy  advent  of  Christ  on  earth,  which  had 
doubtless  been  a  strong  element  in  the  success  of  the  early 
preaching,  haviug  been  weakened  by  unexpected  delay 
and  the  dashing  of  many  ardent  hopes,  was  succeeded 
by  the  idea  that,  as  the  supernatural  powers  hitherto  exer- 
cised were  then  but  feebly  manifested  or  entirely  with- 
drawn, it  was  possible  that  they  had  mistaken  the  purpose 
of  God  concerning  the  Church  and  its  mission  in  the 
world.  At  all  events,  as  early  as  the  third  century,  the 
fixed  and  settled  conviction  of  the  Church  seemed  to  have 
been  that  the  world  was  to  be  converted  from  paganism 


ORG  A  NIZA  no  N.  ]  3  7 

and  idolatry  by  what  we  would  now  term  the  ordinary 
operations  of  the  Holy  S})irit  upon  the  individual  mind 
and  heart,  in  distinction  from  those  wonderful  Pentecostal 
displays  of  supernatural  power  no  longer  vouchsafed. 

It  does  not  come  within  our  present  purjwse  to  consider 
the  cause  of  the  withdrawal  from  the  world  of  the  miracu- 
lous power  which  had  been  so  effective  on  the  hearts  of 
men, — whether  the  influence  was  phenomenal,  essential  to 
a  specific  purpose  for  a  limited  time,  or  whether  it  was  a 
great  blessing  which  might  have  been  permanently  retained, 
but  which  was  lost  to  men  by  their  failure  to  appreciate  its 
value  and  depend  upon  its  agency, — but  rather  the  fact 
that  the  Church  lias  not  now  in  its  possession,  and  has  not 
had  for  many  centuries,  the  gift  so  largely  exercised  by  the 
early  believers.  The  statement  in  Acts  ii.  39,  "  For  the 
promise  is  unto  you  and  your  children,  as  many  as  the 
Lord  shall  call,"  would  seem  to  imply  that  this  '^  power'' 
might  have  been  one  of  the  ever-present  forces  in  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Church,  but,  like  many  other  divinely-proffered 
blessings,  lost  by  want  of  faith  on  the  part  of  Christians. 
In  the  results  following  the  withdrawal  of  the  '^  power" 
we  think  we  can  discover  some  of  the  causes  which  led  to 
the  formation  of,  and  subsequent  accretions  to,  that  stupen- 
dous form  of  07'ganization  which  has  so  heavily  burdened 
the  Church  and  made  its  efibrts  for  the  eighteen  hundred 
years  of  comparatively  so  little  avail. 

That  we  have  departed  from  the  example  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Church  is  evident.  That  a  return  in  all  particulars 
would  be  best,  even  if  it  were  practicable,  may  well  be 
questioned.  Living  under  a  system  of  Church  govern- 
ment and  procedure  received  by  inheritance  from  the 
fathers,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  form  any  correct  idea 
of  the  primitive  simplicity  and  unbounded  liberty  which 


138  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

characterized  the  A})ostolic  assemblies.  The  fundamental 
idea  of  our  social  economy — itself  the  })roduct  of  human 
worldly  selfishness — causes  us  to  shrink  in  terror  from  the 
ordinary  custom  of  those  who  received  the  '^  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  of  ^^  selling  their  possessions  and  goods/' 
parting  them  to  all  as  every  man  had  need,  and  having  all 
things  in  common.  While  this  practice  is  only  incident- 
ally referred  to  by  Luke,  as  j)art  of  the  ordinary  routine  of 
their  social  life,  yet  it  is  spoken  of  in  connection  with  the 
"  signs  and  wonders  done  by  the  Apostles,"  with  the  "■  glad- 
ness and  singleness  of  heart,"  and  with  "praising  God." 
It  is  possible  that  some  of  the  conceptions  of  Christ  and 
His  Gospel  closely  "allied  to  the  spirituality  of  religion 
held  by  these  primitive  saints,  would  be  as  shocking  to 
our  modern  theology  as  their  ancient  communism  is  to  our 
present  political  economy.  But  none  of  us  would  venture 
to  deny  that  these  men  were  under  a  most  specific  and  par- 
ticular dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

If  asked  to  state  what  we  accepted  as  the  underlying 
idea  of  the  vast  organization  termed  '^  The  Church,"  be- 
lieved by  so  many  to  be  the  power  of  Christ  present  in 
visible  form  in  the  world,  we  would  say  that  the  followers  of 
Christ,  having  given  up  as  an  active  principle  of  their  faith 
and  life  the  belief  in,  and  hope  of,  the  speedy  coming  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  assumed  that  their  obligations  to  Him  involved, 
as  far  as  it  could  be  accomplished  by  human  means,  the 
conversion  of  the  world  to  Christianity  by  active  measures 
and  aggressive  assaults.  Forgetting  that  they  were  to  be 
"  witnesses"  for  Christ,  they  were  soon  transformed  into 
violent  propagandists.  The  assumption — for  as  such  we 
regard  it — that  the  conversion  of  the  world  was  dependent 
on  the  Church,  involved  an  aggregation  of  resources,  a 
combination   of  energy,   and    a   massing   of  effort   which 


OR  GA  NIZA  TION.  1 3  9 

took  form  first  in  a  system  of  belief,  and  then  in  an  organ- 
ized government.  The  love  and  affection  for  a  personal 
Saviour,  which  had  been  the  main-spring  of  Clnistian  life, 
was  gradually  displaced  by  a  faith  about  Him,  and  dog- 
matic conceptions  concerning  His  teaching,  which  were  made 
the  basis  and  tests  of  fellowship.  The  attracting  and  assimi- 
lating influence  of  a  perfect  personal  moral  ideal  manifested 
in  the  life  of  Christ,  made  potential  not  only  by  the  force  of 
its  Divine  origin,  but  by  the  peculiar  energy  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  was  thought  to  be  of  less  importance  in  the  progress 
of  Christianity  than  the  inculcation  of  a  logical  system  of 
theology.  Religion  then  took  forms  in  Creeds  and  Sym- 
bols. Acceptance  of,  and  adherence  to  these  creeds  being 
imperatively  demanded,  societies  were  at  once  formed  dif- 
ferent in  their  features  from  the  Apostolic  assemblies. 
The  guidance  and  direction  of  these  bodies  was  slowdy, 
perhaps,  but  surely  taken  from  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  wis- 
dom of  men.  In  the  fourth  century,  we  find  in  the  visible 
organization  of  the  Church  those  germs  of  evil  whose 
future  development  has  so  clearly  manifested  the  depravity 
of  the  human  heart.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church.  As  an  English  layman  remarks, 
*' The  errors  and  superstitions  of  ancient  Christianity;  the 
crimes  of  ecclesiastics;  the  miseries  of  the  Inquisition  ;  the 
no  less  brutal  superstitions  and  cruelties  of  Puritanism 
towards  persons  suspected  of  witchcraft;  the  exaltation  of 
Satanic  powers;  the  absence  of  all  tenderness  in  religion ;  the 
ever-present  terror;  the  moral  element  in  Christianity  super- 
seded by  the  dogmatic ;  doctrine  taking  the  i)lace  of  recti- 
tude; faith  determined  neither  by  Scripture  nor  by  reason, 
but  by  the  intellectual  influences  of  the  time;  improve- 
ment produced  only  by  advancing  rationalism ;  past  errors 
unatoned,  and  existing  falsities  still  cherished  and  fought 


140  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

for, — all  united,  render  it  almost  a  mockery  to  speak  of  the 
last  eigliteen  hundred  years  as  the  period  of  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Spirit/' 

The  sources  from  which  the  evils  of  organization  flow 
are,  first,  the  natural  depravity  of  the  human  heart, — that 
disposition  which  prompts  man  to  follow  any  path  but  that 
marked  out  by  Divine  wisdom  and  love;  second,  tiie 
exclusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit, — taking  His  position  as  the 
Guide  and  Teacher  of  all  believers,  and  thus  placing  some- 
thing between  God  and  the  individual  soul;  third,  a  per- 
version of  Scripture, — which,  ignoring  its  natural  and 
proper  signification,  employing  the  Word  in  sustaining  a 
worldly  gospel,  limited  by  time  and  in  agreement  with  the 
desires  of  the  human  heart,  would  establish  a  Church  or 
community  where  a  line  could  not  be  drawn  between  a 
professing  Christian  and  an  intelligent,  cultivated,  worldly 
man ;  fourth,  that  the  majority  of  those  constituting  the 
visible  Church,  being  more  under  the  influence  of  the 
"  letter"  which  is  human,  than  of  the  "  Spirit'' which  is 
Divine,  will  in  life  and  action  place  confidence  in  measures 
prompted  by  short-sighted  human  wisdom  rather  than  in 
the  promised  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  truth  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  ever  present  in  the  Church  of  Christ  as  a 
reality  to  all  believers — instructing  in  all  truth,  guiding  in 
all  duty,  uniting  and  binding  in  one  those  who  have  in 
Christ  died  unto  the  law — seems  to  have  been  systemati- 
cally ignored,  and  regarded  as  one  of  the  elements  of  an 
effete  mysticism. 

But  leaving  in  the  background  the  principles  which 
govern  the  questions  involved,  a  cursory  consideration  of 
some  of  the  practical  results  of  the  organization  to  be  seen 
in  every-day  life,  will  give  proof  of  departure  from  primi- 
tive ideas,  and  consciousness  of  this  may  be  a  first  step 


ORGANIZATION.  141 

in  reform.    The  doctrine  that  "  Might  makes  Riglit,"  while 
not  openly  professed  by  church  organizations,  or  by  gov- 
ernments of  those  countries  that  are  nominally  Christian, 
is  often  assumed  and  acted  upon  by  either.     Our  treatment 
of  the   Indians  is   sad  evidence  that,  in   si)ite  of  Bibles, 
churches,  and  clergy,  we   have  as  a  nation   yielded  to  a 
temptation  arising  from  the  possession  of  mere  brute  force, 
— a  power  that  we  could  exercise  almost  with  impunity  on 
rational  human  beings,  destitute  of  light  and  culture.     The 
forcible  removal  of  the  Indians  from  the  land  we  now  oc- 
cupy cannot  be  indorsed  by  justice  or  equity, — the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit  certainly  cannot  be  claimed  for  a 
course  of  action  dictated  solely  by  a  spirit  of  coveteousness. 
When  they  refused  to  give  up  their  land,  and  relinquish 
their  natural  rights  for  a  trifling  remuneration,  we  sur- 
rounded   them    by    emigration,    introduced    among    them 
the  vices  of  our  civilization,  drove  them  off  by  main  force, 
and  took  their  lands  without  any  recompense.     We  have 
broken  solemn  treaties,  and  when  the  oppressed  have  stood 
up  for  their  assured  rights,  we  have  called  them  "  Indian 
dogs,''   and    wellnigh    exterminated    them.       The    day  of 
God's  justice  is  steadily  advancing,  when  as  a  nominally 
Christian  nation  we  must  answer  for  our  national  sin. 

England — the  most  enlightened  nation  on  the  earth — 
acquired  possession  of  India  by  might  and  in  a  way  that 
cannot  be  sanctioned  by  justice  and  equity.  Having  ob- 
tained control  of  so  vast  a  dominion,  her  whole  procedure 
in  the  political  and  commercial  economy  of  its  government 
has  not  been  influenced  by  Gospel  principles.  As  a  Chris- 
tian nation,  she  has  suffered,  and  must  continue  to  suff*er, 
from  the  evils  that  inevitably  follow  a  breach  of  moral  law. 
In  1847  an  eminent  jurist  of  our  own  country,  an  elder 
in  a  Presbyterian  church,  openly  advanced  the  idea  that 

10 


142  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

the  United  States  government  would  be  right  in  entering 
upon  Mexico,  and  subduing  it  by  force  of  arras,  on  the 
ground  that  a  people  so  richly  favored  with  a  beautiful 
country  and  fertile  soil  had  abused  the  gifts  of  God  by 
their  gross  superstition  and  wicked  priestcraft.  And  this 
theory  found  many  bold  and  outspoken  advocates  within 
the  bounds  of  the  visible  organization.  A  Christian  nation, 
entering  upon  a  war  of  conquest  on  a  heathen  nation,  ap- 
points by  its  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer,  asking  the  Lord  to  prosper  its  arms 
in  a  wicked  enterprise.  AVhen  a  bloody  victory  has  been 
obtained  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  is  proclaimed. 
Such  facts  occurring  among  the  most  learned  and  enlight- 
ened nations  betray  a  most  lamentable  ignorance  of  the 
true  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 

There  is  pervading  the  entire  country,  in  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical societies,  in  corporations  and  associations  of  all 
kinds,  extending  from  the  national  government  down  to 
the  most  inferior  municipality,  an  abuse  of  power,  spring- 
ing from  or  aided  by  organization,  that  places  heavy  burdens 
of  taxation  upon  all,  but  which  press  most  heavily  on  the 
ignorant,  the  poor,  and  the  laboring  classes.  It  is  not, 
indeed,  openly  asserted  that  "  might  makes  right," — phys- 
ical external  force  is  not  employed, — but  shrewd,  calcula- 
ting men,  using  the  power  of  intellect,  wealth,  and  position, 
aided  by  the  force  of  combination  and  organization,  in  a 
delicate  and  refined,  but  none  the  less  cruel  manner,  do  ac- 
complish ends  that  are  grossly  selfish  and  bitterly  oppres- 
sive to  the  community.  By  these  schemes  of  combined 
capital  and  cunning  brains  the  power  escapes  from  the 
many  to  the  few ;  the  rich  are  made  richer  and  the  poor 
poorer.  By  this  indirect  but  powerful  o})pression  many  a 
worthy  and  honest  citizen  feels  that  his  means  of  livelihood 


ORGANIZATION.  I40 

are  gradually  being  taken  from  him,  and  a  fatal  blow,  from 
a  source  of  wliich  he  is  ignorant,  is  being  aimed  at  his  pros- 
perity. As  the  pressure  bears  more  heavily  upon  him,  he 
comes  to  the  consciousness  that  he  must  be  crushed  or  take 
part  with  the  oppressor  and  in  turn  press  down  on  those 
below  him.  Occasionally  the  details  of  some  such  scheme 
are  providentially  exposed  to  the  public  gaze.  Could  the 
whole  series  of  robbery,  corruption,  falsehood  and  crime,  be 
fully  revealed,  it  would  show  a  state  of  society  unequalled 
in  deformity  by  that  of  a  Mohammedan  or  heathen  nation. 
But  the  saddest  fact  of  all,  is  that  when  these  astounding 
revelations  burst  upon  us,  many  who  have  occupied  higli 
positions  in  government  or  associations,  have  been  most 
deeply  engaged  in  these  nefarious  schemes,  when  at  the 
same  time  they  held  correspondingly  high  positions  among 
the  sects  of  the  visible  Church.  Yet  the  means  employed 
are  not  gross  in  nature,  but  on  the  contrary  are  plausible 
in  outward  appearance, — indeed,  but  seldom  require  any- 
thing that  would  be  outwardly  inconsistent  with  a  "profes- 
sion of  religion"  in  any  of  the  denominations. 

This  same  spirit  which  is  so  prevalent  in  the  government 
and  worldly  corporations  is  plainly  to  be  discerned  in  the 
churches.  Within  the  century  a  change  has  taken  place 
in  the  policy  and  usage  of  the  Church  which  is  not  an  im- 
provement on  the  old  ways.  It  is  a  change  for  which  the 
clergy  are  no  more  relieved  from  responsibility  than  are 
the  laymen.  In  the  olden  time  of  our  fathers,  a  clergyman 
would  remain  in  one  pastorate  for  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
or  during  a  lifetime,  performing  his  duties  with  fidelity, 
and  seeking  the  reward  of  his  labors  in  a  happy  and  con- 
tented society  gathered  about  him.  Now,  worldly  pros- 
perity and  a  desire  for  ease  and  comfort  tempt  pastors  to 
such  frequent  changes  that  a  ten  years'  settlement  is  rather 


144  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

remarkable.  Some  wealthy,  influential  city  congregation 
learns  of  a  good  man  settled  in  a  quiet,  retired  place.  It 
sends  a  committee  to  "feel"  him,  or,  in  plain  words,  to  tempt 
him,  by  the  promise  of  increased  salary  and  greater  worldly 
advantages,  to  desert  the  position  assigned  him  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Loving  his  people,  and  in  turn  loved  and  respected 
by  them,  reverenced  by  the  children  and  indorsed  by  the 
community,  he  at  first  gives  no  heed  to  the  charmers  who 
place  before  him  in  such  glowing  colors  the  greater  privi- 
leges of  a  metropolitan  residence,  the  advantages  enjoyed 
by  the  pastor  of  a  cultivated,  intelligent  congregation,  the 
increased  educational  facilities  within  reach  for  his  children. 
They  flatter  his  latent  vanity  by  an  intimation  that  "  one 
of  the  most  important  churches  of  the  denomination,  the 
very  stronghold  of  orthodoxy  in  the  region,"  demands  and 
must  have  a  pastor  of  just  his  peculiar  fitness  and  qualifi- 
cations, and  skilfully  sustain  the  plea  by  the  presentation 
of  a  far  "  wider  field  of  usefulness  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord,"  where  his  talent  and  ability  will  insure  a  tenfold 
harvest  of  souls.  The  larger  salary,  the  longer  vacations 
for  rest,  the  occasional  voyage  to  Europe  or  the  Holy 
Land,  are  quietly  referred  to,  but  of  course  not  strongly 
urged,  as  reasons  for  a  change,  for  worldly  prudence  would 
not  thus  defeat  its  own  ends  by  too  bald  a  statement.  The 
worldly  temptation  having  entered  into  his  soul,  the  shrink- 
ing pastor  begins  to  consider  the  case  in  his  own  mind, — 
his  i)resent  circumstances  shrink  into  nothing  compared 
with  those  he  might  obtain,— his  wife's  health  assumes  an 
importance  it  never  had  before,— his  limited  locality  never 
seemed  so  small  and  confining  or  its  disadvantages  so  ap- 
parent,—and  "the  wider  field  of  usefulness"  opened  before 
him  is  accepted  as  an  intimation  of  the  will  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.     Usually  without  consultation  with  his  people,  the 


ORGANIZATION.  145 

call  is  accepted,  a  useful  and  pleasant  relation  is  severed, 
and  a  precious  assembly  of  saints  is  robbed  of  a  beloved 
pastor  by  a  sister  organization  professing  to  believe  that 
there  is  but  "  One  Church"  where  the  unity  of  the  Spirit 
is  to  be  kept  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  and  where  all  should 
seek  the  edification  of  the  Body  of  Christ.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  church  seeking  a  minister,  in  its  public  and  so- 
cial services  has  been  praying  that  the  Spirit  would  guide 
them  in  all  their  deliberations,  that  God  would  in  His  own 
time  send  them  a  man  after  His  own  heart,  while  in  their 
own  mind  they  have  already  determined  to  call  one  whose 
eloquent  preaching  will  fill  the  j)ews  and  draw  into  the 
fold  those  learned  and  wealthy  persons  in  the  community 
who  will  pay  off  the  burdensome  church-debt,  increase  the 
contributions  to  the  Boards,  and  thus  make  the  particular 
church  popular  in  the  denomination  and  the  world.  To 
gain  this  end  they  are  ready  to  pursue  a  course  that  in  the 
ordinary  business  transaction  of  life  among  worldly  men, 
would  not  only  be  considered  an  aggressive  intrusion  on 
private  interests,  but  a  procedure  that  no  honorable  mer- 
chant would  approve  or  consent  to  adopt.  This  is  not  an 
exceptional  case  occurring  at  long  intervals,  for  its  fre- 
quency and  its  truth  will  at  once  be  acknowledged  by  those 
who  have  been  connected  with  the  inner  machinery  which 
is  supposed  to  be  essential  to  the  judicious  management  and 
wise  control  of  a  church  organization. 

The  question,  "  How  shall  ice  secure  a  pastor?"  asked  by 
a  company  of  professed  believers  that  may  be  without  one, 
and  the  means  so  often  used  to  obtain  one,  are  evidences 
that  the  present  form  of  organization  is  not  from  God,  but 
from  men,  and  the  consequent  difficulties  arising  in  the 
case  are  the  inherent  evils  of  the  system.  When  a  congre- 
gation regards  the  oratorical  power,  the  intellectual  ability. 


146  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

the  scriptural  knowledge,  or  the  genuine  piety  of  the  min- 
ister, as  so  many  talents  to  be  bid  for  and  obtained  by  the 
payment  of  so  much  money,  and  when  the  congregation  is 
regarded  by  the  minister  as  a  number  of  people  gatliered 
to  listen  to  and  enjoy  his  scientific,  philosophical,  or  meta- 
physical discourses,  or  the  means  by  which  he  may  acquire 
reputation  as  a  scholar,  rather  than  a  proclaimer  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  his  Master,  then  are  we  experiencing  the  most  dead- 
ening and  fatal  results  of  organization. 

It  is  an  undoubted  proposition  "  that  they  which  preach 
the  Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel."  (1  Cor.  ix.  14.)  It 
is  the  duty  of  believers  to  contribute  of  their  substance  for 
the  support  of  those  whom  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  hath 
called  to  instruct  and  edify  saints,  so  that  their  minds,  being 
free  from  earthly  cares,  may  be  given  entirely  to  the  dis- 
charge of  the  high  and  holy  office.  But  this  duty,  which 
should  be  regarded  as  a  privilege,  is  often  sadly  neglected 
by  those  who  claim  to  regard  the  Gospel  as  above  all  price. 
The  true  Gospel  spirit  does  not  solicit,  imj^lore,  or  beg  any- 
thing spiritual  or  material.  What  is  given  for  the  support 
of  tiie  Gospel  must  be  the  gift  of  a  willing  heart,  must  bear 
the  seal  of  Divine  approbation  and  have  God's  blessing  on 
it,  or  it  will  accomplish  no  good.  AVhile  I  would  not  solicit 
anything  from  an  unbeliever  for  the  support  of  the  Gospel, 
and  would  have  no  right  to  refuse  it  if  freely  offered,  yet  I 
cannot  but  believe  that  the  oflPerings  of  Christian  believers, 
prompted  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  the  most  effective  material 
means  of  doing  good.  If  the  method  used  to  support  |)ub- 
lic  worship  should  be  by  j^ew-rent, — the  propriety  and  wis- 
dom of  which  may  well  be  questioned, — the  prompt  meeting 
of  the  obligation  should  never  be  neglected.  Strange  as  it 
may  appear,  many  are  derelict  in  this  respect.  There  is 
nothing  sadder  in  the  record  of  the  organization  than  the 


ORG  A  XI Z  A  TION.  147 

sufferings  of  worthy  pastors  and  their  families  from  tlie 
faikire  of  their  people  to  pay  what  had  been  promised. 

No  one  whose  soul  is  influenced  by  love  to  Christ  will 
fail  in  giving  a  due  proportion  of  his  means  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel.  There  are, 
however,  associated  with  the  Church  organization  many 
schemes  of  human  devising  which  have  no  essential  rela- 
tion to  Gospel  truth,  and  yet  would  make  a  claim  for 
support  on  the  ground  of  religious  obligation.  These 
schemes  may  not  include  that  which  is  absolutely  wrong, 
the  funds  gathered  by  the  eloquent  appeals  of  agents  may 
be  honestly  appropriated  to  the  specified  object,  but  after 
all  they  have  no  practical  utility,  effect  nothing  in  the  pre- 
motion  of  vital  personal  piety,  and  are  too  often  only  the 
devices  by  which  some,  who  cannot  dig  and  are  ashamed 
to  beg,  may  have  a  comparatively  easy  means  of  subsist- 
ence. There  are  some  men  who,  regarding  themselves  as 
stewards,  responsible  for  a  wise  and  proper  use  of  the  means 
placed  in  their  hands,  will  not  encourage  or  contribute  to 
these  multiplied  organizations.  Such  must  expect  to  be 
stigmatized  as  miserly,  and  be  prepared  to  meet  the  frowns 
of  many  who  cannot  perceive,  and  are  unable  to  believe, 
that  such  action  is  governed  by  a  well-settled  and  clearly- 
defined  sense  of  duty. 

Similar  feelings  jjnd  reproaches  are  often  awakened  by, 
and  manifested  to,  those  who,  from  honest  convictions,  do 
not  care  to  participate  in  many  forms  of  bustling  church 
activity  upon  which  in  these  days  so  much  dependence 
seeius  to  be  placed.  There  are  doubtless  in  every  con- 
gregation many  thoughtful  p^en  and  women,  who,  fully 
assured  by  Revelation  and  their  own  experience  that  the 
presentation  of  Christ  as  a  Saviour  from  sin  and  death,  is 
the  one  means  by  which  men   may  be   made  Christians, 


148  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

cannot  have  synipathy  with  or  take  any  part  in  those  plans 
of  social  entertainment  and  amu.sement,  carried  on  with  the 
express  purpose  of  promoting  religion,  which  transform  the 
house  of  worship  into  a  theatre,  a  concert-hall,  or  a  restau- 
rant, and  change  what  should  be  an  assembly  of  professed 
followers  of  Christ,  seeking  each  other's  good  by  Christian 
fellowship,  into  a  gathering  of  frivolous  triflers  seeking  the 
pleasures  which  come  from  esthetical,  intellectual,  or  animal 
gratification.  When  the  Church,  as  a  Church,  enters  into 
rivalry  with  the  w^orld  in  providing  entertainment  and 
amusement  for  its  members,  it  will  soon  be  discovered  that 
the  world  can  furnish  a  better  article  at  a  lower  price.  The 
world's  amusements  cost  only  time  and  money,  but  the 
amusements  of  the  Church — the  phrase  has  a  grating  sound 
on  Christian  ears — are  provided  at  a  cost  that  must  be 
measured  by  a  widespread  loss  of  spirituality,  by  the  in- 
crease of  the  worldliness  so  congenial  to  the  human  heart, 
and  too  often  by  the  contempt  of  the  worldly,  who  justly 
look  for  something  higher  and  purer  than  mere  frivolities 
from  those  who  profess  to  be  intrusted  with  a  message  of  life 
to  lost  and  condemned  sinners.  Were  it  not  for  the  serious 
results,  it  might  be  amusing  to  read  the  accounts,  in  the 
daily  papers,  of  the  fairs  and  festivals,  the  dinners  and  tea- 
parties,  the  musical  and  dramatic  entertainments  given  by 
church  organizations  for  some  avowedly  religious  object. 
These  are  occasions  where  Christ  may  be  taken  as  a  visitor, 
but  not  as  a  life — places  where  the  conversation  may  per- 
chance for  a  few  moments  be  about  and  around  Christ  and 
our  Church,  but  not  in  Christ  or  His  one  Church.  In 
truth,  it  requires  a  stronger  and  more  enlightened  faith  to 
meet  and  resist  the  seductions  of  Satan  when  thus  presented 
in  the  guise  of  religious  worldliness,  than  it  did  when  he 
brandisiied  the  fagot  and  fire.     Only  by  constant  and  firm 


ORGANIZATION.  149 

reliance  on  Divine  power  can  the  Christian  keep  liis  heart 
free  from  the  entanglements  of  the  world  and  his  garments 
unspotted. 

But  it  may  be  asked  whether  these  multiplied  agencies 
and  all  this  complicated  machinery  of  organization  have  not 
resulted  in  good.     While  not  denying  that  some  good  may 
have  been  done  by  these  means,  it  might  still  be  shown 
that  the  good  results  have  been  not  gained  by,  but  in  spite 
of,  the  system,  and  that  had  the  Church  called  to  her  aid 
the  mighty  powder  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  submitting  herself  to 
the  Divine  guidance  promised  by  the  Father,  her  history  of 
nearly  two  thousand  years  would  not  have  been  a  record 
of  comparative  failure.     A  pious  English  layman,  after  an 
impartial  survey  of  the  meagre  and  unsatisfactory  results 
of  active  effort  at  home  and  abroad,  says  to  his  Christian 
brethren  that  "  Our  call  is  to  be,  rather  than  to  do;  that  being 
what  we  ought  to  be,  there  will  be  little  danger  of  our  failing 
to  do  what  we  are  called  upon  to  perform  ;  that  truth  rather 
than  triumph  should  be  the  great  object  of  our  ambition  ; 
that  God  loves  His  creatures  far  better  than  we  can  do  ; 
that  acquiescence  in  His  dispensations,  founded  on  implicit 
confidence  in  the  revelation  He  has  been  pleased  to  make  of 
Himself  to  us,  is  far  more  acceptable  than  restless  zeal  for 
the  promotion  of  His  kingdom  ;  that  the  simple  acceptance 
of  that  great  body  of  facts  which  it  has  pleased  Him  to 
give  for  our  learning,  is  far  better  than  any  amount  of 
theological  deduction  that  may  be  drawn  therefrom ;  that  all 
noise  and  clamor  on  behalf  of  One  who  when  on  earth  did 
neither  strive  nor  cry,  nor  make  His  voice  to  be  heard  in 
the  streets,  is  out  of  place ;  that  all  pandering  to  human 
vanity,  all  love  of  notoriety,  all  planning  and  directing,  and 
governing  of  machinery,  all  greed  of  money  for  God's  ser- 
vice, all  excitement  and  publicity,  all  faith  in  mere  oratory, 


150  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

all  silencing  of  witness  lest  it  should  interfere  with  our 
projects, — everything^  in  short,  which  is  contrary  to  childlike 
faith,  to  the  silent  and  loving  operations  of  the  Spirit, — 4s 
not  of  the  Father,  but  of  the  world.' '' 

No  intelligent  Christian  doubts  that  the  hearty  recogni- 
tion of  these  truths,  and  their  persistent,  quiet  following  on 
the  ])art  of  individuals,  would  do  much  to  purify  the 
^'hurch,  to  renovate  society,  and  promote  genuine  heart- 
pietv,  and  ])rove  by  blessed  results  that  it  was  a  plan  in 
accordance  with  the  Divine  method  as  given  in  the  Word. 
The  following  extract  from  an  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  writ- 
ten at  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  only  a  few  years 
after  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John,  by  some  primitive 
Christian  whose  name  has  perished,  presents  so  beautiful 
and  truthful  a  picture  of  the  early  Christians,  and  of  the 
manifestation  of  Christ  in  men,  that  we  quote  at  length  : 

"  Christians  pass  their  days  on  earth,  but  they  are  citizens 
of  heaven.  They  obey  the  prescribed  laws,  and  at  the  same 
time  surpass  the  laws  by  their  lives ;  they  love  all  men,  and 
are  ])ersecuted  by  all;  they  are  unknown  and  condemned; 
they  are  put  to  death  and  restored  to  life ;  they  are  poor, 
yet  make  many  rich ;  they  are  in  lack  of  all  things,  and 
yet  abound  in  all;  they  are  dishonored,  and  yet  in  their 
very  dishonor  are  glorified ;  they  are  evil  spoken  of,  and 
yet  are  justified;  they  are  reviled,  and  bless;  they  are 
insulted,  and  repay  the  insult  with  honor;  they  do  good, 
yet  are  punished  as  evil-doers;  when  punished,  they  rejoice 
as  if  quickened  into  life;  they  are  assailed  by  the  Jews  as 
foreigners,  and  are  persecuted  by  the  Greeks,  yet  those  who 
hate  them  are  unable  to  assign  any  reason  for  their  hatred. 
T(j  sum  up  all  in  one  word,  what  the  soul  is  in  the  body 
that  are  Cln-istians  in  the  world.  The  soul  is  dispersed 
through  all  the  members  of  the  body,  and  Christians  are 


ORGAMZA  TION.  151 

scattered  through  all  the  cities  of  tlie  world.  The  soul 
dwells  in  the  body,  yet  is  not  of  the  body,  and  Christians 
dwell  in  the  world,  yet  are  not  of  the  world.  The  invisible 
soul  is  guarded  by  the  visible  body,  and  Christians  are 
known  indeed  to  be  in  the  world,  but  their  godliness  re- 
mains invisible.  The  flesh  hates  the  soul  and  wars  ajrainst 
it,  though  itself  suifering  no  injury,  because  it  is  prevented 
from  enjoying  pleasures;  the  world  also  hates  the  Chris- 
tians, though  in  nowise  injured  [by  them],  because  they 
abjure  pleasures.  The  soul  loves  the  flesh  that  hates  it, 
and  also  the  members;  Christians  likewise  love  those  that 
hate  them.  The  soul  is  imprisoned  in  the  body,  yet  pre- 
serves that  very  body ;  and  Christians  are  confined  in  this 
world  as  in  a  prison,  and  yet  they  are  the  preservers  of  the 
world.  The  immortal  soul  dwells  in  a  mortal  tabernacle, 
and  Christians  dwell  as  sojourners  in  corruptible  bodies, 
looking  for  an  incorruptible  body  in  the  heavens.  The 
soul,  when  but  ill  provided  with  food  and  drink,  becomes 
better;  in  like  manner  the  Christians,  though  subjected 
day  by  day  to  punishment,  increase  the  more  in  number. 
God  has  assigned  them  this  illustrious  position,  which  it 
were  unlawful  for  them  to  forsake.  Do  you  not  see  that 
the  more  of  them  that  are  punished,  the  greater  becomes 
the  number  of  the  rest?  This  does  not  seem  to  be  the 
work  of  man :  this  is  the  power  of  God, — these  are  the 
evidences  of  His  manifestations. 

"How  will  you  love  Him  who  has  first  so  loved  you? 
And  if  you  love  Him,  you  will  be  an  imitator  of  His  kind- 
ness. And  do  not  wonder  that  a  man  may  become  an 
imitator  of  God.  He  can,  if  he  is  willing.  For  it  is  not 
by  ruling  over  his  neighbors,  or  by  seeking  to  hold  the 
supremacy  over  those  that  are  weaker,  or  by  being  rich  and 
showing  violence  towards  those  that  are  inferior,  that  hap- 


152  THINGS   OF   THE   KINGDOM. 

piness  is  found;  nor  can  any  one  by  these  things  become 
an  imitator  of  God.  But  these  things  do  not  at  all  consti- 
tute his  majesty.  On  the  contrary,  he  who  takes  upon 
himself  the  burden  of  his  neighbors;  he  who,  in  whatso- 
ever respect  he  may  be  superior,  is  ready  to  benefit  another 
who  is  deficient;  he  who,  whatsoever  things  lie  has  received 
from  God,  by  distributing  these  to  the  needy  becomes  a 
god  to  those  who  receive  his  benefits, — he  is  an  imitator  of 
God.  Then  thou  shalt  see,  while  still  on  earth,  that  God 
in  the  heavens  rules  over  the  universe;  then  thou  shalt 
both  love  and  admire  those  that  suffer  punishment  because 
they  will  not  deny  God ;  then  thou  shalt  begin  to  speak 
the  mysteries  of  God ;  then  shalt  thou  condemn  the  deceit 
and  error  of  the  world  when  thou  shalt  know  what  it  is  to 
live  truly  in  heaven ;  when  thou  shalt  despise  that  which 
is  here  esteemed  to  be  death  ;  when  thou  shalt  fear  what  is 
truly  death,  which  shall  afflict  those  even  to  the  end  that 
are  committed  to  it.'^ 


PARDON  OF  SIN. 

There  is  not,  perhaps,  witliin  the  entire  range  of  human 
emotions,  any  feeling  more  satisfactory  in  character  or  more 
productive  of  peace,  than  the  personal  belief  in  and  assu- 
rance of  pardon  and  forgiveness  of  sin  through  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.     No  article  in  the  Creed  enters  so  fully  into 
our  consciousness,  or  touches  so  closely  our  individual  lives, 
as  that  by  which  we  express  our  faith  in  "the  forgive- 
ness of  sin."     Although  to  the  natural  mind  the  j^rocess  by 
which   the  righteousness  of  God  is  manifested,  the  ivay 
in  which  '^He  might  be  just"  and  at  the  same  time  *'the 
Justifier  of  him   which   believeth  in  Jesus,"  may  be  an 
inscrutable  mystery,  yet  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel   is 
such,  that  among  the  first  experiences  of  a  soul  led  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  is  a  full  persuasion  of  the  power  and  willing- 
ness of  God  to  pardon  all  sin,  and  remove  forever  both  its 
pollution  and  its  consequences.     At  the  very  entrance  upon 
the  Divine  life,  the  Christian  finds  a  new  and  personal  mean- 
ing in  the  words  of  David,  "  Blessed  is  he  whose  trans- 
gression is  forgiven,  whose  sin  is  covered.     Blessed  is  the 
man  unto  whom  the  Lord  imputeth  not  iniquity,  and  in 
whose  spirit  there  is  no  guile,"  that  he  had  no  conception 
of  before.     After  the  consciousness  of  sin  has  entered  into 
the  soul,  after  it  has  experienced  the  "sinfulness  of  sin," 
there  can  be  no  peace  without  the  assurance  of  pardon, — 
there  can  be  no  sure  and  steady  hope  without  the  belief, 
based  on   the  word  of  Jehovah,  that  the  awful  debt  has 
been  paid.     AVe  cannot  conceive  an  idea  of  Christian  life 

153 


154  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

witlioiit  faith  in  the  promise  of  pardon, — not  only  for  past 
sin,  but  for  that  which  intertwines  itself  with  daily  expe- 
rience. It  is  the  foundation  of  all  hope,  an  essential 
of  peace,  a  requisite  to  union  with  God.  It  is  a  blessed 
privilege  granted  to  all  who  are  led  by  the  Spirit.  The 
promises  of  pardon  in  the  Word  are  so  full  and  free,  the 
conditions  on  which  it  is  granted  are  so  simple,  the  recorded 
instances  are  so  remarkable  and  clear,  that  there  should  not 
only  be  no  doubt  of  the  general  fact  of  pardon  through 
faith  in  Christ,  but  of  its  possible  personal  appropriation 
by  each  individual  by  the  exercise  of  faith.  The  instances 
of  pardon  rendered  in  Scripture  are  not  special  or  extra- 
ordinary, but  run  in  the  ordinary  course  of  human  experi- 
ence, and  may  therefore  be  accepted  as  general  cases  and 
precedents  given  for  our  encouragement.  Let  it  be  marked 
that  the  only  condition  of  pardon  for  sinners  is  plainly 
given  by  Peter:  "That  through  His  name,  whosoever 
belie veth  in  Him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins." 

There  are,  perhaps,  few  Christians  who  either  doubt  or 
deny  the  truth  that  God,  in  His  infinite  mercy,  through 
the  life  and  death  of  Christ,  does  pardon  all  the  sins  of 
those  who  are  truly  united  to  His  Son  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
As  a  dogma,  an  article  in  their  creed,  all  accept  it,  but  yet 
there  are  but  few  who  take  it  in  all  that  it  involves,  mak- 
ing it  an  essential  part  of  their  Christian  experience,  and 
drawing  from  it  the  comfort  and  strength  which  follow  its 
possession.  Pardon,  being  a  prerogative  of  God  only, — a 
gift  of  grace,  which  no  work  or  wealth  of  man  can  pur- 
chase,— must  be  accepted  as  such.  Its  source  is  found  in 
the  sovereign  grace  and  mercy  of  God.  On  no  other 
foundation  can  any  human  hope  be  based.  As  a  right,  it 
cannot  be  claimed.  Christ  has  died,  and  we  have  the 
promise  that  by  faith  in  Him  we  shall  receive  remission 


PARDON   OF  SIN.  155 

of  sin.  It  may  be  that  this  gracious  act  far  transcends 
human  comprehension,  but  Scripture  assures  us  that  in  the 
blood  of  Christ  the  justice  of  God  is  satisfied,  and  tiie  sins 
of  all  ^vho  are  united  to  Him  are  forgiven,  blotted  out, 
taken  away,  covered  up,  imputed  no  more.  It  would  seem 
that  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  had  taken  special  pains  to 
convince  men  that  sin  might  be  pardoned  through  faith  in 
His  Son ;  that  remission  of  sin  was  a  logical  and  necessary 
result  of  faith  in  Christ;  that  a  hearty  and  honest  confes- 
sion of  sin  would  be  immediately  followed  by  pardon. 

Now  while  the  truth  of  pardon  of  sin  may  be  accepted 
theoretically  by  the  majority  of  Christians, — may  be  insisted 
upon  as  a  cardinal  axiom  of  faith,  and  in  the  heat  of  argu- 
ment advanced  as  a  pivotal  23oint, — we  claim  that  the  almost 
universal  custom  of  concluding  a  social  or  private  prayer 
with  the  plirase  "  Pardon  all  our  sins"  is  a  sad  evidence 
of  ignorance  of  the  spirituality  of  the  Grace  dispensation, 
and  a  proof  that  many  are  striving  to  work  out  a  righteous- 
ness by  the  Law.  This  petition  takes  its  place  with  others 
of  similar  character.  It  is  a  request  for  a  blessing  which 
has  already  been  granted, — a  prayer  for  that  which  the  soul 
has  already  in  possession,  if  the  promises  of  God  are  fully 
accepted.  It  is  a  petition  that  will  bear  a  very  careful 
examination  by  every  Gospel  saint,  and,  regarded  in  the 
light  thrown  upon  it  by  the  Word,  may  seem  to  be  one 
that  he  would  hesitate  to  offer.  In  that  part  of  the  New 
Testament — from  the  beginning  of  John's  Gospel  to  the 
close  of  Revelation — which  embraces  all  that  God  through 
the  Holy  Spirit  has  revealed  to  men  of  His  dispensation  of 
Grace  in  Jesus  Christ,  there  is  no  injunction  to  j)ray  for 
the  pardon  of  sin,  or  any  recorded  example  that  would 
influence  a  child  of  God  to  offer  such  a  petition.  When 
John  declares  that  if  ^'  we  confess  our  sins.  He  is  faithful 


156  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

and  just  to  fori^ive  us  our  sins,"  he  places  before  us  the 
condition  on  which  pardon  will  be  granted,  and  gives  us 
the  warrant  for  believing  that  honest,  hearty  confession  of 
sin  is  the  pardon  of  sin  ;  that,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  con- 
fession of  sin  and  pardon  of  sin  are  inse})arably  connected; 
that  if  any  burdened  soul,  conscious  of  guilt,  and  realizing 
the  true  nature  of  sin,  sincerely  and  fully  confesses  the 
^ame,  pardon  is  assured  by  tiie  promise  of  God. 

There  are  several  motives  and  influences,  always  present 
in  the  Church  organization,  giving  impulse  to  the  petition 
for  pardon  of  sin,  none  of  which,  however,  can  be  surely 
based  on  Scripture.  The  spirit  of  legalism,  the  force  of 
habit,  tlie  power  of  conscience  separated  from  grace  in  the 
heart,  the  absence  of  faith  in  plain  promises  of  God,  the 
strange  longing  of  the  human  heart  to  gain  peace  by  works 
of  the  law,  all  combine  to  lead  Christians  into  a  form  of 
prayer  which,  carefully  analyzed,  reveals  the  fact  that  they 
who  above  all  others  should  feel  that  in  Christ  they  are 
delivered  from  condemnation,  and  enjoy  the  liberty  which 
God  has  given  to  His  children,  are  held  in  a  bondage  like 
to  that  of  Mount  Sinai  which  enthralled  the  Israelites. 
We  are  no  longer  children  or  slaves.  We  are  heirs  of 
God, — can  plead  His  promises, — can  claini  by  the  Avord  of 
the  Father  that  by  the  death  of  Christ  on  the  cross  the  sin 
of  all  who  trust  in  Him  is  washed  away  in  the  blood  of 
Calvary,  and  therefore  there  can  be  no  condemnation.  If 
we  cannot  accept  the  clear  scriptural  declaration  of  God 
concerning  the  free  and  absolute  pardon  of  the  sins  of  all 
believers,  we  must  give  up  all  hope,  for  the  promise  of 
pardon  rests  surely  and  entirely  on  the  same  foundation 
upon  which  we  base  our  hope  of  immortality.  If,  like  the 
Jews,  we  had  no  Divine  warrant  for  immortality, — if  that 
blessed  reality,  assured  to  us  by  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 


PARDON  OF  SIN.  157 

took  its  place  only  as  an  object  of  hope  and  desire, — the 
pardon  of  sin  wonld  not  be  a  question  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary import.  The  consequences  involved  would  be  of  little 
personal  moment,  for  the  human  mind,  with  the  rapidity 
of  a  liffhtning-flash,  would  reach  the  conclusion  that  if 
there  is  no  immortality, — no  conscious  continuation  of  indi- 
vidual existence, — sin,  with  all  it  involves,  is  an  evil  con- 
nected only  with  the  brief  life  on  earth,  the  consequences 
of  which  do  not  pass  beyond  our  present  knowledge  and 
experience.  Without  any  desire  to  enter  upon  the  discus- 
sion of  the  influence  of  a  belief  in  a  future  life,  on  the 
morality  of  the  present,  we  would  yet  endeavor  to  make 
evident  the  fact  that  a  belief  in  pardon  rests  upon,  and,  in 
the  mind  of  a  believer,  must  be  inseparably  joined  with, 
the  same  scriptural  promises  and  assurances  which  lead 
him  to  think  he  is  an  "heir  of  immortality.''  Throwing 
aside  all  controversy,  giving  no  heed  to  the  utterances  of 
human  wisdom  which  would  cloud  faith,  receiving  the 
Scripture  and  the  results  of  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  on  the  individual  soul  of  the  believer  as  the  truth 
God  would  reveal  to  men,  no  reason  is  apparent  why  a  full 
belief  in  the  absolute  pardon  of  sin  should  not  be  as  heartily 
embraced  and  thankfully  rejoiced  in,  as  the  assurance  that 
the  appearance  of  Christ  ''  hath  brought  life  and  immor- 
tality to  light  tlirough  the  Gospel." 

But  the  question  remains.  Why  should  a  Christian  who 
has  received  the  word  of  the  Master,  exercised  faith  on 
Him,  and  based  all  hopes  in  Him,  have  the  faintest  desire 
to  pray  for  a  blessing  which  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  have  combined  to  assure  him  has  been  granted, 
and  is  even  now,  and  will  be  forever,  in  his  own  possession? 

There  are  in  Scripture — reference  is  made  only  to  the 
New  Testament — a  few  isolated  texts  which,  taken  without 

11 


158  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

regard  to  the  time,  place,  and  circumstances  of  their  utter- 
ance or  record,  might  at  first  sight,  to  some  minds,  seem  to 
give  a  warrant  for  a  prayer  for  pardon  of  sin.  Prominent 
among  these,  and  one  that  is  always  placed  in  the  front, — 
not  only  as  an  example,  but  as  an  example  which,  consid- 
ering its  source,  is  claimed  to  be  equivalent  to  a  positive 
injunction, — is  the  petition  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  "Forgive 
\^  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our  debtors."  Now  this  phrase 
is  so  definite  that  taken  alone  it  would  appear  like  an  au- 
thoritative sanction  the  force  of  which  none  would  deny. 
But  when  we  remember  that  those  who  received  this  formula 
from  the  lips  of  the  Blessed  Master  were  Jewish  believers 
in  the  Messiah  gaining  the  first  intimations  of  the  wealth 
of  blessing  He  was  soon  to  lavish  on  them, — Avho  were  then 
in  a  transition  state,  passing  from  a  system  of  works  into  one 
of  Grace,  in  bondage  to  a  legal  dispensation  and  having  no 
clear  ideas  of  the  new  freedom  which  was  to  be  their  portion 
when  redemption  should  have  been  completed  by  the  sacri- 
fice on  Calvary, — having  no  conceptions  of  the  spiritual 
enlightenment  and  gracious  power  that  would  follow  the 
advent  of  the  Holy  Spirit, — estimating  all  truth  that  came 
to  them  by  the  conditions  of  tutorage  and  discipline  under 
which  they  lived,  and  thus  incapable  by  reason  of  ignorance 
of  any  real  comprehension  of  the  spiritual  import  of  Christ's 
teachings, — giving  to  all  these  facts  their  due  consideration, 
it  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder  that  the  Jews  accepted  the 
petition  in  a  strictly  literal  sense,  and  believed  their  "  debts" 
would  be  forgiven,  because  they  had  forgiven  their  debtors. 
Such  an  idea  was  the  natural  result  of  Jewish  legalism, 
but  cannot  consistently  find  place  where  Grace  reigns.  It 
is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  first  principles  of  the  Grace 
system.  The  Gospel  saint  who  believes  in  his  own  heart 
that  he  has  been  taken  out  of  the  world  by  God's  free  and 


PARDON   OF  SIX.  159 

sovereign  Grace,  who  "  walks  not  after  the  flesh,  hut  after 
the  Spirit/'  because  God's  law  has  been  written  upon  his 
heart,  who  has  been  crucified  with  Christ,  has  been  buried 
and  has  risen  with  Him,  been  baptized  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  thus  made  an  heir  of  all  the  blessed  privileges  of  the 
children  of  God,  who  knows  that  Christ  has  worked  out  a 
full,  perfect,  and  complete  salvation  for  all  who  trust  in 
Him,  has,  or  should  have,  an  absolute  assurance  that  all  his 
sin,  past,  present,  and  future,  is  borne  by,  and  atoned  for,  by 
his  Substitute  and  Sin-bearer.     He  rests  his  faith  on  the 
word  of  Paul,  that  the  Son,  before  "taking  His  place  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,"  "  had  by  Himself 
purged  our  sins'^  (Heb.  i.  3),  and  'Hhat  the  worshippers 
once  purged  should  have  had  no  more  conscience  of  sins" 
(Heb.  X.  2) ;  and  recalling  the  reproof  of  Peter  to  those 
who  '*  had  forgotten  that  they  were  purged  from  all  their 
old  sins"  (2  Pet.  i.  9),  takes  the  comfort  these  declarations 
of  truth  were  certainly  intended  to  give.     By  the  Grace  of 
God  being  delivered  from  the  conscience  of  all  past  sins 
by  the  new  life  or  the  new  creation  in  Christ  Jesus,  the 
believer  hates  sin  and  cannot  hold  or  cherish  the  least  sin 
in  his  own  heart.     The  Holy  Spirit  dwelling  within  him, 
he  is  inclined  to  and  desires  to  be  conformed  to  the  image 
of  his  Lord.     He  cannot  sin,  for  he  is  born  of  God,  and 
the  seed  of  God  remaineth  in  him.    He  is  sanctified  through 
the  offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  once  for  all,  by 
which  he  is  perfectly  sanctified.  (Heb.  x.  10  and  14.) 

During  the  centuries  that  have  passed  since  our  Lord 
was  on  the  earth,  myriads  of  redeemed  souls,  loving  and 
trusting  Him,  have  found  in  these  words  an  expression  of 
the  inmost  desire  of  their  hearts, — an  earnest  desire  for 
deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin.  Few  of  these,  with  a 
true  consciousness  of  the  inherent  wickedness  of  the  human 


160  THISGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

licart,  would  venture  to  say,  "  Forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we 
forgive  our  debtors."  In  the  light  poured  upon  early 
Christians  by  the  succeeding  utterances  of  Christ,  and  by 
the  ins])ired  revelations  of  the  Apostles^  w^e  can  perhaps 
discover  that  which  has  transfused  a  Jewish  prayer  with 
the  spirit  of  Grace  and  put  into  it  a  meaning  far  beyond 
the  comprehension  of  those  who  first  heard  it.  The  truth 
ydden  in  this  petition  seenjs  to  be  that  a  Christian,  trusting 
only  to  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  will  always  be  in 
such  a  state  of  mind  and  heart  that  he  naturally  and  truly 
forgives  all  his  debtors,  and  like  his  Master  loves  those 
who  are  his  enemies.  But  this  forgiveness  which  he  so 
freely  extends,  is  the  genuine  fruit  of  the  indwelling  of  the 
Spirit  in  his  heart,  and  is  not,  and  cannot  be  the  ground  on 
which  he  believes  that  his  own  sin  has  been  pardoned.  He 
knows  that  in  Christ  sin  has  been  condemned,  justice  satis- 
fied, the  law  of  God  magnified,  and  believers  saved  from 
the  consequences  of  a  departure  from  the  source  of  light 
and  love.  He  cannot  have  the  presumption  or  hardihood 
to  cherish  the  thought  for  a  moment,  that  his  own  pardon 
is  dependent  on  or  in  any  way  the  result  of  the  forgiveness 
he  may  extend  to  others. 

Simple,  plain,  and  clear  as  are  the  promises  of  God  to 
pardon  sin  on  confession,  the  fact  that  so  many  prayers 
include  a  i)etition  for  pardon,  is  an  evidence  that  the  pro- 
fessed Christians  of  this  age  either  do  not  believe  the  state- 
ments of  revelation  or  that  they  have  failed  to  comprehend 
their  real  meaning.  Absence  of  faith  or  careless  ignorance 
must  be  the  impulse  of  a  prayer  for  which  there  is  no  war- 
rant in  the  Grace  dispensation.  Holding  fast  to  the  decla- 
rations of  truth  in  the  Old  Testament,— perfectly  adapted 
and  invaluable  to  those  for  whom  they  were  intended  and 
to  whom  they  were  given,— many  Christians,  not  appreci- 


PARDON  OF  SJy.  ](Jl 

ating  tlie  blessing  of  freedom  and  full  justification  extended 
to  them  in  Christ,  are  continually  striving  to  do  something 
in  the  line  of  the  law  that  will  recommend  them  to  God, — - 
seeking  for  that  which  may  be  oflPered  as  an  equivalent  for 
the  blessing  promised  and  given  to  them, — working  out  a 
righteousness  which  they  can  oifer  to  God.  Would  it  not 
be  more  rational  to  follow  the  Divine  injunction,  "Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ," — accept  heartily  that  which 
God,  "  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins  and  to  cleanse 
us  from  all  unrighteousness,"  offers  to  us,  and  yield  our- 
selves to  the  guidance  and  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit? 
Believing  that  "  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteous- 
ness to  every  one  that  belie veth,"  accepting  the  declaration 
that  "He  hath  chosen  us  in  Him  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before 
Him  in  love," — assured  that  "we  are  His  workmanship, 
created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works  which  God  hath 
before  ordained  we  should  walk  in," — satisfied  that  the 
Father  "  hath  made  Him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin, 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him," 
— having  a  consciousness  of  "  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ 
hath  made  us  free," — trusting  in  the  word  of  St.  John  that 
we  "  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One  and  know  all 
things"  essential  to  salvation, — being  "  fully  persuaded  that 
what  God  has  promised  He  is  able  also  to  perform," — we 
rest  on  the  word  of  St.  Paul  that  "  if  we  believe  on  Him 
that  raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  who  was 
delivered  for  our  offences  and  was  raised  again  for  our 
justification,  therefore,  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have 
peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom 
also  we  have  a(;cess  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we 
stand  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God."  Consider- 
ing the  richness  and  fulness  of  the  promises  of  God  to  par- 


1^2  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

don  sin,  and  the  fact  that  "He  is  faithful  and  just  to  for- 
give us  our  sins,"  is  there  any  reason  for  doubting  that  all 
tlie  sins  of  all  believers  were  laid  upon  and  atoned  for  by 
the  Sin-bearer, — that  Christ  by  His  death  on  Calvary  laid 
an  eternal  fonndation  for  the  pardon  of  sins,  that  any  hu- 
man soul  feeling  i\\Q  burden  and  guilt  of  sin  might  surely 
rest  upon  ? 

•  In  the  daily  intercourse  with  the  world,  in  the  ordinary 
walks  of  life,  the  Christian  will  fall  into  sin,  and  do  that 
which  his  own  conscience  tells  him  is  contrary  to  the  holi- 
ness of  the  Law  of  God.  With  the  confidence  of  a  loving 
child  he  confesses  his  sins,  pours  out  his  heart  before  the 
Father  in  humble  acknowledgment  of  his  transgression, 
trusting  in  the  Great  High  Priest  at  the  right  hand  of 
God  who  intercedes  for  him,  and  thus  throws  off  the  bur- 
den which  human  strength  cannot  bear.  Knowing  so  well 
by  personal  experience  the  weakness  and  infirmity  of  the 
flesh,  the  evil  dwelling  in  his  natural  heart,  the  power  of 
the  temptations  and  blandishments  of  the  world,  and  the 
force  of  the  fiery  darts  of  Satan,  the  Christian  is  always 
in  a  praying  and  confessing  mood,  and  is  continually 
judging  himself  that  he  "  should  not  be  condemned  with 
the  world."  He  does  not  approach  a  throne  of  grace  with 
any  slavish  fear,  or  with  any  desire  to  gain  a  reward  for 
obedience,  or  with  the  hope  of  avoiding  an  evil.  His  one 
earnest  wish  is  for  deliverance  from  the  power  and  guilt  of 
sin.  Knowing  that  the  Father  has  an  infinite  hatred  of 
sin,  that  for  his  sins  Christ  was  crucified,  he  will  not  delib- 
erately hold  the  least  sin  upon  his  conscience,  would  not 
crucify  his  Lord  afresh,  or  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  prove 
a  stumbling-block  in  the  pathway  of  other  human  souls; 
he  simply  accepts  God's  word,  humbly  and  penitently 
confesses  his  sin,  believes  that  true  confession  is  pardon. 


PARDON   OF  SIN.  163 

and  trusts  in  the  grace  of  God  to  deliver  him  from  the 
power  and  temptation  of  his  spiritual  enemies.  Knowing 
so  well  the  weakness  of  his  faith,  conscious  of  the  faint 
appreciation  he  has  of  the  infinite  worth  of  the  sacri^fice  of 
Christ,  finding  within  himself  a  spirit  of  selfishness,  and  a 
disposition  to  settle  himself  in  a  state  of  carnal  ease,  the 
devoted  saint  will  always  be  mourning  over  his  sins  and 
humbly  confessing  them. 


THE  ABIDING  COMFORTER. 

Among  the  most  precious  privileges  given  to  believers 
]^-  the  Heavenly  Father  are  the  assurance  of  pardoned  sin 
and  the  consciousness  of  entire  acceptance  Avith  God.  The 
lamentable  fact  that  so  many  pass  through  their  earthly 
pilgrimage  without  experiencing  the  fulness  of  blessing  to 
be  enjoyed  by  their  possession,  is  no  evidence  against  the 
existence  of  a  very  definite,  scripturally-based  assurance  of 
pardon  and  salvation  wrought  into  the  soul  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  It  is,  however,  a  sad  proof  that  many  Christians, 
from  the  want  of  a  strict  and  prayerful  examination  of  the 
word  of  God,  remain  in  doubt  of  that  which  would  most 
conduce  to  their  happiness  and  usefulness,  and  fail  to 
appropriate  the  blessed  privilege  which  has  been  provided 
for  every  believer.  On  this  most  important  point  of 
Christian  experience,  where  there  should  be  calm,  settled 
conviction,  causing  constant  joy  and  peace  in  the  soul, 
there  are  too  often  uneasy  questionings  and  chronic  doubt- 
ings  which  iiave  in  them  all  the  essential  elements  of  un- 
belief. 

Believing  that  this  precious  boon  is  one  of  the  results  of 

faith  wrought  into  the  soul  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  think 

the  absence  of  assurance  may  be  traced,  in  many  cases,  to 

an  ignorance  or  a  misconception  of  the  nature  and  offices 

of  the  Abiding  Comforter,  or  to  a  doubt  of  the  indwelling 

influence.     Before  Christ  left  His  disciples  He  told  them 

He  must  go  away  or  the  Comforter  could  not  come,— that 

He  would  pray  the  Father  to  send  the  Comforter  to  "abide 
1G4 


THE   ABIDING    COMFORTER.  1G5 

with  them  forever,"  to  dwell  with  them  and  be  in  them, 
to   teach  them  all  things,  and  bring  all   things   to  their 
remembrance  that  He  had  spoken  unto  them,  to  testify  of 
Him,  to  guide  them   unto  all   truth,  and  to  shoAV  them 
things  to  come.     Paul,  in  the  clearest  and  most  emphatic 
manner,  tells  the  Corinthian  believers  that  they  ''are  the 
temple  of  God,"  that  "  the  Spirit  of  God  dAvelleth  in  them," 
even  in  their  bodies.     All  the  hopes,  the  desires,  the  very 
life  of  a  Christian   are  but  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.     God  the  Holy  Spirit,  doing  the  work  of  God  the 
Son  on  earth,  silently  and  without  observation  takes  up 
His  abode  in  the  heart  of  every  believer,  and  seals  every 
saint  as  an  heir  of  salvation.     Thus  the   Church  is  sus- 
tained by  one  Divioe  Life,  Christ  poured  into  each  heart. 
AVhere  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  is  kept  in  the  bonds  of  peace 
there  is  one  body,  one  temple.     All  are  heirs  of  the  same 
blessing,  all  are  influenced  by  the  same  Spirit.     Partakers 
of  the  one  life,  all  who  love  Christ  are  one,  and  therefore 
brethren,  children  of  the  One  Heavenly  Father. 

How  often  do  we  hear  in  prayers  the  petition,  ''  Send 
down  the  Holy  Spirit  into  our  hearts,  and  upon  the 
Church"!  Although  from  frequent  and  almost  constant 
use  this  phrase  has  become  so  fixed  and  incorporated  in 
prayer  that  it  is  regarded  as  an  expression  of  humble 
dependence  on  the  influence  of  the  Third  Person  of  the 
Trinity,  and  an  earnest  desire  that  the  soul  may  be  led  into 
the  right  path  by  Divine  direction,  yet,  in  the  face  of  the 
many  positive  declarations  of  Scripture  that  the  Spirit 
dwells  in  the  heart  of  every  saint,  does  not  the  use  of 
such  a  petition  immediately  betray  a  want  of  faith  in 
God's  promises  that  the  soul  is  sealed  forever?  Does  it 
not  manifest  a  doubt  whether  the  personal  salvation  has 
been  secured  ?     Is  it  not  an  admission  that  the  Spirit  is  not 


l(j(3  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

in  possession  of  the  licart?  Is  it  not  a  confession  that  the 
Spirit  is  recognized  as  an  "  influence"  rather  than  as  a 
Person,  equal  with  the  Father  and  Son  ?  While  nothing, 
perhaps,  could  be  farther  from  the  minds  of  many  who  use 
these  and  similar  petitions,  yet  they  do  contain  an  element 
of  unbelief  that  is  inconsistent  with  simple  Christian  faith. 
No  one  of  Christ's  redeemed  children,  however  sadly  he 
may  have  grieved  and  quenched  it,  is  ever  without  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  neither  can  he  resist  the  Spirit  as  a  finally 
impenitent  soul.  If  a  Christian  supposes  he  can  think  a 
good  thought,  speak  a  good  word,  or  do  a  good  act  by  any 
inherent  or  natural  virtue,  he  is  simply  trusting  to  his  own 
righteousness.  He  prays  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  negatively  confesses  that  he  has  departed  from  and  is 
not  walking  in  God's  holy  ways,  and  that  he  can  retrace 
his  steps  or  regain  the  right  road  by  asking  for  the  Holy 
Spirit.  If  one  could  be  holy  to-day  and  sinful  to-morrow 
there  would  be  some  propriety  in  praying  for  the  '^  gift  of 
the  Spirit"  to  be  holy  to-day,  and  on  the  morrow  to  follow 
the  flesh  and  the  world.  The  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  the  human  heart  is  not  like  that  of  the  sun  upon 
vegetation,  or  of.  the  moon  upon  the  tides.  It  is  a  new 
creation,  beginning  at  the  centre  of  man's  being  and  work- 
ing out  to  the  circumference.  The  old  heart  remaining 
in  the  old  nature,  grace  does  not  change  the  character  of  a 
man,  but  by  the  inworking  power  of  the  Spirit  the  man  is 
more  and  more  conformed  to  the  image  of  Christ,  and 
thus  is  changed. 

When  our  Christian  graces  do  not  shine,  when  the  soul 
is  discouraged  and  despondency  hangs  heavy  over  the 
affections,  it  is  natural,  and  proper  that  we  should  seek 
relief  and  gain  new  strength  from  the  Divine  source,  and 
pray  that  the  Spirit  within  us  might  awaken  our  dull 


THE  ABIDING    COMFORTER.  167 

affections,  quicken  our  desires,  and  open  our  spiritual  eyes 
that  we  may  behold  wondrous  things  in  God's  word. 
Such  a  petition  implies  no  doubt  of  \\\q  gracious  presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart,  according  to  the  promise. 
It  may  be  said  that  one  who  has  the  Comforter  constantly 
abidino;  in  the  soul  oudit  not  to  fall  into  such  a  condition, 
which  is  certainly  one  of  the  forms  by  which  the  Spirit  is 
grieved.  Granting  tliis,  the  experience  of  the  weakness  of 
our  faith,  and  the  appreciation  of  the  power  of  our  wicked 
hearts,  the  temptations  of  the  world,  and  the  fiery  darts  of 
the  evil  one  by  which  we  are  so  continually  assailed,  should 
work  in  us  the  conviction  that  without  the  ever-abiding 
presence  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  exerting  supernatural  power, 
the  Christian  faith  and  life  are  beyond  our  capacity  of 
retaining  and  manifesting. 

We  fear  that  the  Church  of  the  present  age  has  a  very 
faint  and  inadequate  conception  of  the  mission  and  ofiice  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  individual  Christians  do  not 
realize  the  infinite  worth  and  power  of  the  indwelling 
Spirit.  Fighting  against  principalities,  powers,  and  spir- 
itual wickednesses  in  high  places,  and  unable  to  contend 
successfully  against  the  least  of  his  spiritual  enemies,  the 
weakest  Christian,  by  simply  giving  up  his  own  strength 
and  fully  opening  the  heart  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  may  draw^ 
to  his  aid  all  the  Divine  powers  of  the  Godhead,  and  find 
ever  within  his  own  soul  the  Comforter  who  will  guide 
into  all  good,  shield  from  all  spiritual  danger,  strengthen 
against  all  temptation,  and  protect  from  all  enemies.  When 
no  thought  or  purpose  is  permitted  to  take  root  in  the  heart, 
and  no  design  or  act  is  allowed  to  find  manifestation  in  the 
outward  life,  unless  fully  convinced  that  they  are  sanctioned 
by  the  Almighty  Friend,  Counsellor,  and  Guide,  then  is 
the  human  soul   being  brought  into  union  with  God  and 


168  THINGS   OF   THE   KINGDOM. 

Jesus  Christ  by  the  blessed  influence  of  the  Spirit.  The 
Christian  cannot  attain  this  liappy  condition  by  effort.  It 
is  the  result  of  simple  yielding  to  the  operations  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  they  manifest  themselves  in  the  soul.  Car- 
dinal Manning,  in  his  book  on  ^'The  Internal  Mission  of 
the  Holy  Ghost/^  uses  the  following  illustration  of  the  grace 
of  God  working  upon  the  heart  by  the  Spirit :  ''  You  have 
*een  a  lock  in  a  river,  and  you  have  watched  how,  when 
tlie  lock  is  shut,  the  water  rises  against  the  gate.  It  presses 
with  its  full  weight  against  the  gate  until  a  hand — it  may 
be  the  hand  of  a  child,  with  such  facility  is  it  accomplished 
— opens  the  gate  of  the  lock ;  at  once  the  flood  pours  in, 
the  level  of  the  water  rises,  the  stream  runs  strong  and 
carries  forward  those  that  float  upon  it  without  effort  of 
their  own.  The  grace  of  God — that  is,  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost — is  always  pressing  against  our  will,  always  in 
contact  with  our  heart,  moving  us  onward  tow^ards  God, 
impelling  us  to  good.  And  this  pressure  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
against  our  will  waits  only  for  our  will  to  open :  ^  Behold, 
I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock.  If  any  man  hear  My  voice, 
and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him  and 
he  with  Me.'  The  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  waiting  at  the 
door  all  the  day  long;  in  every  action  we  do  He  is  pressing 
upon  our  will  to  make  us  do  good,  and  when  we  are  doing 
good,  to  make  us  do  better.  But  He  waits  for  our  will  to 
correspond.  He  never  forces  it.  The  will  must  be  willing. 
If  we  only  open  the  gate  the  full  tide  of  His  grace  will 
flow  in,  and  uniting  itself  with  our  powers  \w\\\  elevate  our 
personal  will  above  itself,  strengthen  it  with  supernatural 
force,  and  carry  it  onward  with  facility  and  speed.'' 

Nothing  is  more  certain  and  invariable  in  Christian  ex- 
perience than  the  fact  that  a  man  cannot  attain  this  state  of 
union  with  God  except  by  an  entire  renunciation  and  per- 


THE  ABIDING    COMFORTER.  169 

feet  denial  of  self,  a  casting  out  of  all  self-love,  and  such  an 
entire  surrender  and  submission  of  his  own  will  and  whole 
nature  to  tiie  Holy  Spirit  that  it  would  seem  as  if  the  Holy 
Spirit  Himself  were  the  man's  will  and  desire.     The  all- 
pervading,  powerful  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  human 
hearts  by  which  the  thought  and  life  are  guided,  may  to  the 
mind  of  the  natural  man  seem  unreal  and  mystical,  a  force 
that  cannot  easily  be  distinguished  or  separated  from  the 
inherent  qualities  of  the  soul,  the  guidance  of  which  cannot 
be  intelligently  discerned  and  therefore  implicitly  followed, 
but  in  all  ages  and  in  every  country  there  have  been  many 
who  could  say  with  Tauler  that ''  what  the  Spirit  works  in 
the  souls  of  those  with  whom  He  holds  direct  converse  none 
can  say,  nor  can  any  man  give  account  of  it  to  another,  but 
he  only  who  has  felt  what  it  is ;  an^  even  he  can  tell  thee 
nothing  of  it,  save  only  that  God  in  very  truth  hath  possessed 
the  ground  of  his  souV     But  is  it  unreasonable  that  the 
operations  of  the  Divine  Si)irit  of  God  upon  the  heart  and 
soul  of  man  should  be  mysterious?     Is  it  surprising  that  a 
process  so  supernatural  in  origin,  so  powerful  in  its  influ- 
ence, so  widereaching  and   diverse    in    its  developments, 
should  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  finite  limited  human  com- 
prehension?    But,  thanks  to  the  Father,  who  hath  in  all 
ages  manifested  Himself  by  the  Spirit,  each  soul  has  within 
itself  a  faculty  by  which  it  may  discern  the  leadings  of  the 
Spirit,  and  recognize  for  itself  the  Divine  truth  wliich  He 
would  open  to  the  spiritual  vision ;  it  can  see  what  God 
commands  inwardly  w^ithout  means,  as  well  as  outwardly 
by  the  help  of  means ;  it  can,  with  the  confidence  of  assured 
faith,  submit  itself  to  the  direction  of  the  Spirit  to  follow 
any  path  along  which  the  Lord  may  lead  Avithout  mur- 
muring or  questioning.     Not  only  is  it  the  privilege  of  a 
Christian  to  always  live  in  such  a  condition  that  he  will  at 


170  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

once  accept  the  leadings  of  the  Spirit  in  everything  that 
may  be  related  to  the  outward  life  as  well  as  in  the  inner 
experience  of  his  soul, — that  interior  life  which  is  known 
only  to  himself  and  his  God, — but  he  may,  by  faith  and 
prayer  and  by  entire  renunciation  of  self,  have  such  an  in- 
dwelling of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  all  desires,  emotions,  and 
affections,  will  seem  to  be  but  the  constant  and  instantaneous 
results  of  the  Divine  Will,  working  in  such  perfect  harmony 
with  his  own  will,  that  the  two  cannot  be  separated  or  dis- 
tinguished. He  will  not  then  be  conscious  of  any  disagree- 
ment between  his  own  desires,  and  the  will  of  God  as  it  is 
revealed  to  his  mind  by  the  written  Word  and  clearly  mani- 
fested to  his  soul  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Then  will  he  be 
receiving  and  enjoying,  as  far  as  it  is  possible  to  experience 
in  his  earthly  life,  a  full  and  abundant  ansAver  to  that  all- 
embracing  petition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  "Thy  will  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven,^' — not,  surely,  in  the 
sense  which  connects  the  petition  with  the  current  events 
of  the  "  earth,"  but  in  that  personal  and  real  sense  in  which 
the  soul  is  given  up  in  rightful  allegiance  and  full  trust  to 
the  will  of  God,  continually  made  evident  by  the  supernat- 
ural power  of  the  Spirit, — a  power  and  influence  differing 
only  by  reason  of  earthly  and  material  conditions  from  that 
which  bears  sway  in  Heaven. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  phase  of  high  Christian  expe- 
rience, which  is  claimed  to  be  the  result  of  the  Holy 
Ghost's  abiding  in  human  souls,  is  a  condition  far  beyond 
the  attainment  of  the  majority  of  those  who  believe  them- 
selves to  be,  and  are  recognized  by  others  as,  believers  in 
Christ  and  children  of  God.  It  may  be  regarded  as  a 
point  in  the  Christian  course  which  can  only  be  attained 
when  the  soul  shall  have  cast  off  its  trammels  of  flesh  and 
blood,— the  sources,  surely,  of  the  many  temptations  that 


THE  ABIDING    COMFORTER.  171 

vex  the  spirit  and  throw  such  a  blight  over  godly  graces, 
— a  point  from  which  the  soul,  after  its  deliverance  from 
the  "natural  body,"  may  start  exultingly  forward   on  an 
endless  course  of  love  and  service  under  the  immediate  and 
conscious  inspiration  of  the  heavenly  life;   but  a  careful 
study  of  all  the  truth  concerning  the  office  and  power  of 
the  Holy  Si)irit,  given  to  men  by  Himself  in  the  written 
Word,  accompanied  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  same  Spirit  in  his  own  soul,  will  convince  a 
Christian,  beyond  any  doubt,  that  a  surrender  of  his  entire 
nature  to  the  overpowering  influence,  a  constant  watchful- 
ness to  receive  and  act  upon  any  intimations  of  the  Divine 
Will  that  may  come  to  his  consciousness,  will  naturally 
and  inevitably  lead  his  mind  and  soul,  and  therefore  his 
rebellious  body,  into  more  and  more  entire  accord  with  the 
Will  of  God.     None  would  dare  presumptuously  to  draw 
a  line  and  declare  that  beyond  it  no  soul  could  pass  in  its 
divine  experience,  when  the  Holy  Ghost,  dwelling  within 
it,  is  constantly  impelling  it  to  make  wider  attainments  in 
spiritual  knowledge,  to  rise  to  a  still  closer  union  with  its 
source  of  spiritual  life,  which,  at  the  same  time,  is  sustain- 
ing it  in  all  that  it  has  before  acquired.     Such  a  one  acts 
from  pure  grace,  and  not  alone  from  conscience.     The  old 
conscience  from   the  law^  caused  only  a  slavish  fear  and 
dread,  but  the  new^  conscience  from  the  Spirit,  assuring  of 
acceptance  and  pardon,  is  followed  by  ever-increasing  joy 
and  peace. 

It  may  seem  anomalous  and  paradoxical,  but  neverthe- 
less it  is  true,  that  if  a  Christian  who  has  been  made  a 
willing  subject  of  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
thus  enabled  to  make  progress  far  in  advance  of  many, 
was  asked  to  relate  some  of  his  inner  personal  experience, 
the  first  point  would  be  grievous  complaints  of  the  great 


172  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM 

power  of  his  spiritual  enemies,  and  of  the  constant  tempta- 
tion from  the  old  heart  to  rest  upon  the  works  of  the  law, 
rather  than  on  the  finished  salvation  of  Christ,  applied  per- 
sonally to  his  soul  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Conscious  that  he 
should,  like  Christ,  walk  on  the  top  of  the  water  (the 
world),  he  confesses  that,  owing  to  the  weakness  of  faith, 
he  can  scarcely  keep  his  head  above  the  waves.  This  tu- 
4auilt  of  suffering  and  humiliation,  springing  from  ever- 
present  fears  within  and  assaults  without,  does  not,  how- 
ever, in  the  least  affect  the  constancy  of  his  hope,  break  up 
his  confidence  in  the  power  and  love  of  Gocl,  disturb  the 
intimate  communion  subsisting  between  his  own  soul  and 
the  gracious  Spirit,  or  turn  aside  that  overflowing  flood  of 
richness  and  sweetness  of  grace  always  pouring  into  the 
heart  ready  to  receive  it.  With  perfect  assurance  of  faith, 
he  says,  with  Job,  "I  hnoio  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,"  and 
with  Paul,  ^^I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  per- 
suaded He  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  to 
Him.''  Humility  and  self-renunciation  mark  every  phase 
of  his  inward  experience  and  outward  action.  Not  con- 
scious of  the  fact  himself,  it  is  yet  patent  to  every  beholder 
that  he  is  being  transformed  into  the  image  of  Christ  by 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

It  is  passing  strange  that  ''the  full  assurance  of  faith," 
the  enjoyment  of  which  is  a  precious  privilege  that  may 
and  should  be  attained  by  every  believer,  should  be  so  gen- 
erally regarded  as  a  special  heritage  of  a  favored  few\ 
There  is  nothing  special  or  extraordinary  about  it,  for  all 
may  have  it.  It  is  a  condition  of  heart  and  soul  that  in- 
evitably follows  the  free  and  unrestricted  operations  of 
God's  Spirit.  It  is  not  presumption  to  believe  clearly  and 
definitely  on  this  point,  but  it  is  a  false  and  spurious  hu- 
mility that  would  lead  one  to  live  in  perpetual  doubt  and 


THE  ABIDING    COMFORTER.  173 

hopeless  perplexity.  With  the  Bible  in  hand,  opening  so 
clearly  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  would  seem  the 
height  of  presumption  to  doubt  that  any  Christian  might 
not  live  in  the  conscious  enjoyment  of  the  heavenly  gift. 
The  soul  has  been  quickened  to  a  new  life  by  the  Spirit, 
has  passed  from  death  unto  life,  has  been  made  partaker  of 
a  new  creation,  has  received  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit, 
has  been  ^^ saved  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  the 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost/'  Every  believer  in  Christ 
has  been  made  the  subject  of  these  operations  of  the  Spirit. 
The  sanctifying  grace  of  the  Spirit  has  entered  into  and 
pervaded  the  whole  nature.  If  not  resisted,— and  the 
power  of  a  strong  resistance  dwells  in  every  human  breast, 
— the  Holy  Ghost  will  enlighten  the  mind,  revealing  w^on- 
drous  things  in  the  Word  of  God,  will  implant  and  sustain 
a  true  faith  in  Christ,  will  lead  the  soul  to  an  entire  sub- 
mission to  the  Avill  of  God,  will  strengthen  for  the  perform- 
ance of  every  duty  and  the  patient  endurance  of  all  suffer- 
ing that  may  lie  along  the  pathway,  will  cherish  and 
brighten  all  Christian  graces, — the  outward  evidence  of  the 
hidden  working, — and  will,  not  as  a  result  of  what  He 
has  already  wrought,  but  at  the  same  time,  and  in  connec- 
tion with  it,  give  the  blessedness  of  those  whose  sin  is  par- 
doned, whose  transgression  is  covered,  and  work  in  the 
soul  the  humble  yet  confident  assurance  that  "He  which 
hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you  will  perform  it  until  the 
day  of  Jesus  Christ."  Only  when  we  can  believe  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  ceased  to  strive  with  sinners,  to  create 
souls  anew,  to  intercede  for  saints,  to  comfort  them  and 
guide  them  into  all  truth,  to  shed  abroad  the  love  of  God, 
and  to  seal  souls  unto  the  day  of  Redemption,  can  we 
reasonably   doubt   the    privilege    of    a   blessed    and    full 

assurance  of  faith. 

12 


PRAYER. 

"  Praj'er  is  the  simplest  form  of  speech 
That  infant  lips  can  try  ; 
*  Prayer  the  sublimest  strains  that  reach 

The  Majesty  on  High.'' 

Peayer  is  simplicity  itself,  yet  its  exercise  involves  all 
the  powers  Avhich  God  has  granted  to  the  human  soul.  On 
the  true  and  scriptural  idea  of  Prayer,  depends  in  a  great 
measure  the  whole  course  of  the  Christian  life.  Prayer  is 
the  main  channel  through  which  the  Infinite  Father  com- 
municates His  fulness  of  blessing  to  His  dependent  children, 
— the  medium  by  which  they  express  to  the  Source  of 
life  and  blessing  those  feelings  of  dependence,  emotions  of 
love  and  gratitude,  which  spring  up  in  the  soul  when  it  is 
in  harmony  with  the  Divine  Will.  From  the  depths  of  a 
broken  heart,  possessed  and  influenced  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
our  desires  go  up  to  God  as  the  pleadings  of  that  Spirit, 
which  God  has  promised  to  answer. 

While  it  may  not  be  within  the  power  of  the  human 
mind  to  form,  or  of  human  speech  to  express,  the  true  idea 
of  Prayer,  in  all  its  characteristics  and  far-reaching  influ- 
ence, yet  the  child  of  God  may  consciously  experience  in 
his  own  heart  all  the  blessings  flowing  from  the  effectual 
fervent  prayer  of  faith.  The  effectual  fervent  prayer  of 
faith  is  not  a  mere  act  or  position  of  the  body,  even  though 
it  be  in  apparent  accord  with,  or  an  expression  of  the 
thoughts  of  the  mind  and  emotions  of  the  soul.  It  is  not 
a  confession  of  sins,  an  expression  of  thanksgiving,  or  a 
174 


PRAYER.  175 

statement  of  our  wants  in  a  certain  form,  in  a  fixed  time 
and  place.  It  is  not  a  duty  commanded  ])y  God,  which  we 
dare  not  neglect  for  fear  of  consequences.  It  is  not  a 
delight  of  the  natural  senses  or  a  self-complacent  pleasure 
of  the  intellect.  It  is  not  pleading  with  heartfelt  earnest- 
ness and  unusual  solicitude  in  times  of  anticipated  or 
present  disaster  and  fear,  or  when  we  are  sorely  touched 
l)y  the  loss  of  some  temporal  good,  or  in  deep  distress  at 
the  removal  of  dear  friends.  It  is  not  calling  earnestly  on 
the  Creator  and  Dispenser  of  all  events  when  the  storm  is 
raging  about  us,  and  forgetting  in  the  sunshine  that  the 
Creator  is  ours  only  as  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  not  eloquent  language,  or  appropriate,  w^ell -adjusted 
scriptural  language  spoken  to  God.  While  the  effectual 
fervent  prayer  of  faith  includes  all  this,  it  is  something  far 
higher  and  deeper  and  purer.  It  is  God's  own  prayer ;  it 
is  the  Holy  Spirit  holding  communication  with  Himself 
through  the  sanctified  human  soul.  AVhen  the  Spirit  has 
entered  into  and  taken  full  possession  of  the  soul,  that  soul 
is  absorbed  in  God,  and  all  its  desires  are  in  full  accord  with 
the  w^ill  of  God,  for  they  spring  from  it  and  find  their  satis- 
faction only  in  it.  We  pray,  only  when  the  Holy  Spirit 
takes  such  entire  possession  of  the  heart  that  the  desires  ex- 
pressed are  the  "  groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered  ;"  when 
the  deep  longings  for  freedom  from  sin  and  the  enjoyment 
of  God's  love  spring  up  spontaneously  from  the  soul ;  when, 
without  any  human  eflPort  or  design,  we  yield  ourselves 
to  the  influence  of  that  gracious  Guest  whom  the  Father 
'  grants  to  all  His  children  ;  when,  guided  by  this  mysterious, 
yet  real  presence,  w^e  are  so  inwardly  united  w^ith  God  in 
will  and  purpose,  that  our  desires  are  simply  the  expressions 
of  the  Divine  will.  We  pray,  when  w^e  feel  that  God  is 
our  Father,  that  we  are  members  of  His  family  through 


176  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

Christ  tlie  Son,  and  prove  our  sonship  by  trusting  the 
promises  God  has  given  us  in  His  AVord.  We  pray,  when 
our  wills  are  so  perfectly  united  to  and  lost  in  the  will  of 
God  that  we  give  up  all  selfish  love  and  can  say  in  sincerity, 
"Not  my  will,  but  Thine  be  done." 

Let  it  be  carefully  noted  that  the  prayer  of  faith  cannot 
be  offered  if  any  sin  remains  on  the  conscience.  If  there 
^iould  be  any  guilt  unrepented  of,  any  darling  sin  cherished 
in  the  heart,  conscience,  the  inward  monitor,  asserting  its 
sway,  will  prove  a  barrier  to  the  familiar  intercourse  which 
should  always  exist  between  the  Father  and  the  child.  It 
must  be  removed  by  true  confession,  must  be  cast  into  that 
flood  from  Calvary's  cross,  ere  the  soul  can  find  peace. 
Only  when  the  soul  is  free  from  the  alloy  of  unconfesscd 
and  unrepented  sin  can  it  find  the  blessed  peace  which  is 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

It  is  of  primary  importance  that  the  Christian  should 
know  what  are  the  prayers  God  has  promised  to  answ^er, — 
should  gather  from  Revelation  some  definite  idea  of  the 
range  of  petitions  which  may  be  offered  in  the  assurance  of 
faith.  That  there  are  certain  limitations  is  evident,  not 
only  from  Scripture,  but  from  the  experience  of  each  indi- 
vidual Christian.  While  we  w^ould  not  dare  to  assert  that 
it  is  wrong  to  ask  for  temporal  good,  or  that  prayers  for 
such  gifts  are  not  answered,  yet  a  consideration  of  the 
character  of  God  and  the  whole  plan  of  providence  and  re- 
demption, as  revealed  in  Scripture,  and  most  clearly  in  the 
person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  has  led  us  to  the  convic- 
tion that  it  is  not  necessary  for  a  redeemed  child  of  God  to 
pray  for  temporal  blessings  in  detail,  and  that  in  the  New 
Testament  there  is  no  encouragement  to  believe,  or  promise 
given,  that  such  petitions  will  be  granted.  Rich  and  full 
as  are  the  promises  of  God,  infinite  as  are  the  blessings 


PRAYER.  177 

revealed  for  our  appropriation  by  faitli,  both  must  be  to  a 
certain  degree  limited  by  the  general  truth  that  an  Omnis- 
cient Father  desiring  the  eternal  welfare  of  His  children,  will 
not  grant  those  things  which  may  be  for  their  harm.  Our 
ignorance  must  be  subject  to  His  wisdom  and  love. 

Traced  to  their  source,  prayers  for  temporal  good  and 
worldly  advantages  are  prompted  by  a  covetous  desire  for 
something  not  in  possession  that  will  supply  an  imaginary 
want,  or  by  an  undefined  fear  of  natural  trouble  or  future 
disaster  from  which  Ave  would  shield  ourselves  by  the 
power  which  we  imagine  is  connected  with  earthly  posses- 
sions. The  one  element  of  faith  essential  to  true  prayer 
cannot  govern  such  petitions,  for  it  seems  impossible  for 
an  intelligent  Christian  to  ask  for  these  things  and  believe 
as  if  he  had  them  in  possession.  All  that  God  requires  of 
those  who  are  His  children  is  faith  in  His  love.  If  their 
prayers  spring  from  mistrust,  it  is  not  probable  that,  by 
answering  them,  God  would  encourage  such  a  feeling  in 
their  hearts. 

A  promise  to  answer  prayers  prompted  by  the  natural 
heart  would  militate  against  that  principle  manifested  by 
God  in  creation  and  providence  by  which  He  brings  to 
pass  all  His  divine  purposes ;  for  such  petitions,  not  being 
indited  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  therefore  not  in  accord- 
ance with  God's  plans,  could  be  answered  only  by  a  mira- 
cle or  by  a  change  in  His  own  great  laws. 

As  often,  perhaps,  as  from  any  other  cause,  prayers  for 
temporal  good,  spring  from  a  desire  to  evade  or  escape  from 
suffering.  In  the  present  material,  mental,  and  spiritual 
worlds  an  ordeal  of  suffering  must  ordinarily  be  passed 
before  the  highest  good  can  be  attained.  The  Captain  of 
our  salvation  was  made  perfect  through  sufiering,  so  that 
none  of  His  disciples  may  hope  to  attain  unto  salvation 


178  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

without  nndero-oino;  the  same.  The  Christian  believes 
that,  in  God's  plan  of  grace  to  his  soul,  all  the  trials  and 
afflictions  that  come  to  him  in  tin's  life,  are  the  means  by 
wliich  he  may  be  purified  from  sin,  and  prepared  for  the 
glory  placed  before  him.  Theoretically  he  accepts  the 
apostolic  declaration,  that  ^^all  things  work  together  for 
good,"  but  practically  he  ignores  it  by  asking  for  deliver- 
ance from  some  form  of  natural  evil  by  which  alone,  per- 
haps, that  "good"  embraced  in  the  Divine  purpose  could 
be  received.  Be  thankful,  rather,  that  as  Christians  we 
are  not  required  to  pray  directly  for  those  temporal  evils 
which  may  be  the  channels  through  which  only  we  may 
gain  the  spiritual  blessing.  Is  it  not  as  reasonable  to  pray 
for  temporal  evils  as  to  pray  for  what  we  consider  tem- 
jDoral  good  ?  Are  not  both  the  means  to  an  end,  and  is  not 
that  end  "holiness"?  We  may  quietly  rest  in  the  conclu- 
sion that,  as  we  may  not  pray  for  the  temporal  evil  which 
will  result  in  our  good,  neither  may  we  ask  for  that  tem- 
poral thino;  which,  although  it  may  appear  to  be  a  present 
good,  will  result  in  eternal  spiritual  injury  to  the  soul. 

In  truth,  what  are  usually  termed  evils  become  such  in 
reality  by  the  rebellion  and  murmuring  of  the  human 
heart.  In  God's  hands  and  under  His  direction  they  are 
transformed  into  blessings,  and  become  means  of  grace, 
w^ithout  which  the  soul  would  not  be  prepared  and  fully 
equipped  for  entrance  on  its  high  destiny.  God's  eternal 
laws  are  perfect,  and  by  their  full,  completed  operation 
will  bring  those  who  are  willingly  exercised  by  them  into 
entire  union  with  their  Divine  Source.  The  Christian, 
fully  trusting  God,  believes  that  no  real  evil  can  come 
upon  him,  for  all  things,  by  promise,  will  work  together 
for  his  good,  so  that  even  "his  enemies  will  be  at  peace 
with  him"  when  "his  ways  please  the  Lord."     Assured 


PRAYER.  179 

that  God's  ways  are  higher  than  man's  ways,  he  is  not 
troubled  by  seeming  mystery,  but  rests  quietly  in  the  faith 
that  all  will  be  for  the  best  and  be  fully  manifested  in  the 
proper  time.  His  main  idea  is  not  to  discover  the  easiest 
and  most  comfortable  route  to  the  heavenly  city,  but  to 
find  that  path  in  which  God  would  lead  him.  Believing 
that  holiness,  not  happiness,  is  the  object  placed  before  him, 
worthy  of  the  exercise  of  all  his  powers,  he  seeks  not  his 
own  life,  but  yields  it  up,  and  by  the  very  act  of  self-re- 
nunciation gains  all  that  is  promised.  But,  let  it  be 
marked,  this  end  is  not  obtained /or  humility,  but  "by 
humility;"  just  as  the  Israelites  were  saved,  not /or  the 
looking,  but  by  the  looking  at  the  brazen  serpent.  It 
must  be  an  act  of  the  heart,  and  not  the  result  of  any 
ascetic  spirit  that  would  perform  a  required  duty.  It 
must  spring  from  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
thus  caused  will  be  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God. 

There  are  in  the  New  Testament  many  ])assages  which, 
at  first  sight,  taken  from  their  true  and  proper  connection, 
would  seem  to  give  a  warrant  or  encouragement  for  prayer 
for  temporal  good.  A  careful  examination  of  any  or  all  of 
them  will  show  that  these  promises  are  general,  not  special 
and  particular.  It  will  not  be  claimed  by  any  Christian 
that  passages  of  this  character  have  exclusive  reference  to 
temporal  things,  but  the  claim  may  be  justly  made  that  if 
the  spiritual  be  the  legitimate  end  of  prayer,  tliese  promises 
must  have  a  close  connection  with  that  which  is  spiritual.* 

Each  and  every  one  of  the  passages  is  qualified  with  be- 
lieving, faith,  and  thanksgiving  before  the  blessing  craved 
can  be  granted.     This  at  once  makes  the  prayer  one  of 

*  Matt.  xvii.  20;  xviii.  19;  xxi.  22;  Mark  xi.  24;  Luke  xi.  24; 
John  xiv.  13  and  14  ;  xvi.  23  and  24  ;  xv.  7  ;  Phil.  iv.  6,  7  ;  1  John 
V.  14  and  15;  iii.  22. 


180  THI^'GS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

faitli  indited  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  can  only  be  for  that 
which  will  promote  growth  in  Christian  grace,  or  for  pro- 
tection from  that  which  may  impede  the  progress  of  the 
soul  in  holiness.  Tiiis,  and  this  alone,  can  be  a  "  good  and 
perfect  gift/'  even  though  it  be  opposed  to  the  inherent, 
selfish  desires  of  the  human  heart,  and  should  come  only  by 
means  of  trial,  trouble,  and  temporal  afflictions.  Such  a 
\siew  limits  the  free  construction  that  is  often  placed  on  the 
words  ^^  anything,"  "everything,"  and  "  whatsoever,"  for 
it  brings  them  all  within  a  circle  bounded  by  the  words 
*'  according  to  His  will."  The  saint  would  not  be  willing 
to  accept  them  in  the  literal  sense,  for  he  would  pray  only 
for  those  things  which  would  be  for  the  highest  good.  He 
prays  in  full  faith  that  God  who  knows  his  heart,  and 
knoweth  all  things,  will  grant  him  just  those  mercies  that 
will  result  in  his  eternal  good,  although  they  should  not  be 
exactly  what  he  had  asked  for. 

A  careful  reading  of  the  first  part  of  the  eleventh  chap- 
ter of  Luke  will  show  that  the  point  of  the  whole  passage 
has  a  clear  reference  to  those  spiritual  graces  or  blessings 
which  the  Father  is  always  willing  to  grant  "  to  those  who 
ask  Him."  They  are,  for  our  clearer  comprehension  of  the 
truth,  pla(;ed  under  the  figure  of  the  temporal ;  but  Avhen 
we  read  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  passage,  "  How  much 
more  shall  your  Heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit?" 
(verse  13),  have  we  not  ground  for  the  belief  that  the  '^ask- 
ing," the  "  seeking,"  and  the  "  knocking"  have  reference  to 
these  higher  and  purer  needs  of  man,  which  God  only  can 
supply  by  the  communication  of  His  Spirit?  Again,  in  the 
eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew,  from  the  fifteenth  to  twen- 
tieth verses,  it  will  be  found  that  the  whole  matter  refers 
to  the  Church — the  body  of  Christ— and  to  individuals, 
only  as  they  are  connected  with  the  Church.     Kead  the 


PRAYER.  181 

context  in  1  John  iii.  18-24,  and  chapter  v.,  fourteenth 
verse  to  the  hist, — passages  just  quoted, — and  it  will  be  seen 
that  all  relates  to  spiritual  blessings.  In  Phil.  iv.  6,  7,  the 
reference  is  to  Christian  graces,  and  in  particular  to  Paul's 
gladness  at  their  manifestation  of  Christian  benevolence. 
The  sentence,  *'  Be  careful  for  nothing,"  is  an  independent 
one,  a  preface,  a  general  exhortation,  a  sermon  in  itself, 
inculcating  entire  freedom  from  any  fear  of  the  future,  or 
covetous  desire  for  that  which  is  not  in  possession.  It  is  an 
expression  of  full  faith  in  God.  It  may,  with  the  same 
propriety,  be  used  as  a  preface  to  such  exhortations  as  "to 
know  God,  whom  to  know  aright  is  life  eternal;"  or  ^'  to 
press  forward  to  the  mark  ;"  or  "  to  lay  aside  every  weight 
and  the  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset  us,"  and  many  others 
of  a  similar  import. 

If  we  would  have  a  simple  and  consistent  plan  of  inter- 
pretation of  scriptural  truth,  it  must  necessarily  be  one  that 
will  not  come  into  conflict  with  other  declarations  that  seem 
apparently  to  teach  truths  contrary  to  these  under  examina- 
tion. If  the  foregoing  texts  be  accepted  as  exhortations  to 
prayer  for  the  things  that  may  be  desirable  for  temporal 
ease  or  comfort,  we  shall  find  great  difficulty  and  confusion 
when  we  meet  the  many  plain  and  simple  directions  to 
"  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,"  and  numerous  other 
texts  teaching  the  same  doctrine  of  trust  in  God  for  the 
supply  of  such  temporal  good  as  may  be  best  for  us.  The 
principle  announced  by  Christ  is,  that  if  you  ask  blessings 
in  faith,  believing  as  though  you  had  them  in  possession, 
such  blessings  will  be  granted.  Now,  if  you  ask  spiritual 
prosperity  will  He  give  you  earthly  prosperity  if  it  should 
be  the  means  of  preventing  your  advancing  in  the  divine 
life?  He  certainly  will  not.  If  you  ask  any  temporal 
mercies  in  detail,  severed    from   their  connection   with   a 


182  TIIiyGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

higher  spiritual  good,  you  cannot,  neither  can  any  saint, 
believe  as  though  they  were  in  actual  possession,  and  with- 
out this  element  the  prayer  is  not  one  of  faith.  What  we 
term  our  wants  are  usually  tlie  imaginary  desires  of  the  old 
natural  heart,  and  are  not  those  things  that  may  be  neces- 
sary for  us.  The  word  "  want"  should  not  be  used  by  the 
Christian.  It  is  a  word  destitute  of  comfort,  for  it  supposes 
»  painful  vacuum,  and  implies  a  fear  that  nothing  will  be 
given  to  fill  it.  The  saint  may  lack  more  grace  to  make 
him  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus,  but  he  has  the  conviction  that 
the  covenant  is  well  ordered  and  sure,  and  in  it  his  bread  and 
his  w^ater  are  included.  God  has  never  said  He  will  give 
wealth,  honor,  or  pleasure,  but  He  has  bound  Himself  to 
give  grace  and  glory, — the  best  gifts, — and,  in  addition,  has 
said  that  no  good  thing  shall  be  withheld  from  those  who 
walk  uprightly.  All  things  are  yours,  ye  are  Christ's,  and 
Christ  is  God's.  Our  Saviour  has  given  us  a  perfect  word 
in  "  weecZ,"  which  signifies  all  things  that  may  be  spiritual, 
both  for  time  present  and  time  to  come.  You  may,  in  your 
heart,  want  wealth  or  honor,  while  in  God's  mind  you  may 
need  grace,  although  you  may  not  feel  it ;  but  when  you 
desire  grace  it  is  a  need,  and  is  immediately  supplied.  True 
desire  is  love  in  motion,  delight  is  love  at  rest.  The  desire 
for  a  spiritual  mercy  is  always  in  accordance  with  God's 
plan,  for  it  is  a  blessing  that  tends  to  make  us  more  like 
Himself.  God  has  given  us  the  privilege  of  praying  for 
spiritual  blessings  without  bounds.  Indeed,  He  declares 
that  He  is  honored  by  our  large  petitions.  The  more  we 
need  the  more  He  is  ready  to  give.  His  free  promises  are 
not  given  as  conditions  of  rewards,  but  their  fulfilment  is 
a  result.  If  we  had  the  promise  that  our  petitions  for  tem- 
poral good  would  be  answered,  our  reception  of  the  things 
asked  might  rob  others  of  what  is  really  necessary  to  them, 


PRAYER.  183 

SO  that  tlie  imaginary  wants  of  our  hearts  might  be  supplied. 
This  cannot  be  the  case  when  we  ask  largely  for  spiritual 
gifts,  for  all  the  children  of  God  cannot  exhaust  the  maga- 
zine of  God's  rich  grace.  From  this  we  may  draw  without 
stint,  but  He  reserves  to  Himself  the  prerogative  to  judge 
and  supply  as  may  be  best  the  temporal  good  needed,  and 
this  He  grants  in  answer  to  a  petition  for  it,  made  in  sub- 
servience to  and  in  connection  with  prayer  for  spiritual 
things.  As  an  example,  we  take  the  petition  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  All  Cliris- 
tians,  when  using  this  form,  believe  that  they  are  asking 
for  the  spiritual  food  to  nourish  the  soul,  and  witli  tliat 
greater  good  are  asking  that  sustenance  needful  for  the  body. 
The  needs  of  the  soul  are  primary,  those  of  the  body  sec- 
ondary; the  lesser  is  included  in  the  greater.  How  it 
limits  and  confines  the  signification  of  that  glorious  petition 
to  make  it  refer  specially  to  the  bread  that  perishes  !  How 
much  more  consistent  to  regard  it  as  a  general  petition  for  all 
those  things,  either  for  the  soul,  the  mind,  or  the  body,  that 
may  better  enable  us  to  glorify  God  by  living  a  life  of  faith 
in  Him  !  The  qualifying  words  "  this  day''  make  the  peti- 
tion parallel  with  the  words  of  Christ,  "  Sufficient  unto  the 
day  is  the  evil  thereof." 

In  the  history  of  the  earthly  life  of  Christ  we  find 
many  incidents  related  from  which  we  may  draw  logical 
inferences,  and,  by  careful  study,  gain  a  knowledge  of  the 
doctrines  he  announced  for  the  government  of  the  lives 
of  all  those  who  formed  His  kingdom.  Among  the  many 
instances  where  the  disciples  or  others  came  to  Christ  ask- 
ing for  temporal  good  and  were  met  with  a  gentle  repri- 
mand, or  the  words  of  stern  rebuke,  the  following  are 
selected :  The  mother  of  Zebedee's  children,  who  would 
have  her  sons  sit  on  the  right  and  left  hand  of  Christ  in 


184  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

His  kingdom  ;  the  disciple  who  would  first  go  and  bury  his 
father;  the  disciples  whose  anticipation  of  future  evil 
awoke  their  Master  in  the  storm ;  the  man  who  vfould 
have  Christ  speak  to  his  brother  to  divide  the  inheritance 
with  him;  Peter  when  he  was  sinking  in  the  waves;  Mar- 
tha when  she  was  ^*  encumbered  about  much  serving ;"  the 
disciples  when  they  "  had  forgotten  to  take  bread ;"  the 
•postles  who,  just  before  Christ's  ascension,  asked  Him, 
''Wilt  Thou  at  this  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  to 
Israel?" — make  evident  Christ's  method  of  treating  all 
desires  for  earthly  good  or  avoidance  of  anticipated  evil. 
Another  indirect  rebuke — the  more  powerful  because  it 
was  indirect — may  be  found  in  Luke  xii.  30.  After  Christ 
had  told  His  disciples  what  they  should  not  care  for — the 
things  that  perish  with  the  using,  sucii  as  nourishment  and 
clothing  for  the  body — He  said,  "  For  all  these  things  do 
tiie  nations  of  the  world  seek  after."  He  told  His  disciples 
to  take  no  thought  for  their  lives  or  that  which  was  neces- 
sary for  the  body,  because  their  heavenly  Father,  knowing 
their  need,  would  provide  for  them  as  He  did  for  the  fowls 
of  the  air  and  lilies  of  the  field.  The  language  is  plain 
and  unqualified,  the  figures  bold,  strong,  and  striking. 

While  the  whole  spirit  of  Christ's  teaching  seems  to  be 
against  petitions  that  betray  a  want  of  confidence  in  the 
promises  God  has  given  to  His  children,*  and  a  want  of 
faith  in  the  assurance  that  He  will  provide  all  things 
needful,  the  liberty  He  has  given  to  His  own  children 
is  so  great  that  if,  in  your  heart,  with  full  sincerity  and 
faith,  you  can  offer  a  prayer  to  God  for  all  temporal  good, 
for  health,  wealth,  and  honor,  with  the  assurance  that  you 
can,  and  the  determination  that  you  will,  use  all  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  in  subservience  to  His  grand  design, 
tliere  can  be  no  objection  to  such  a  prayer.     The  question 


PRAYER.  185 

to  be  first  settled  by  each  individual  Christian  is,  Avhether 
he  can  meet  the  responsibility  involved  in  the  possession  of 
the  good  he  prays  for. 

The  teaching  of  Christ  seems  to  be,  that  Ave  are  not  to 
be  concerned  for  our  lives, — for  that   which  may  make 
them  comfortable ;  we  are  not  to  dread  evils  which  may 
befidl  us ;  but  we  are  always  to  live  in  the  simple  faith 
that  since  He  has  placed  before  us  "  eternal  life,"  He  will 
certainly  grant  to  us  nourishment  for  the  body,  and  will 
preserve  the  health  and  life,  so  long  as  they  may  be  for 
His  own  glory  and  the  good  of  the  soul.     What  Christian 
could  ask  for  a  greater  promise  than  this?     Grant  that  we 
know  not  whence  the  bread  and  water  for  to-morrow's 
sustenance  is  to  come,  can  our  care  and  thought  produce 
it?     The   Christian's  faith   is   that  his    heavenly  Father 
will  provide  it  if  it  is  needful ;  that  He  will  guide  into  the 
use  of  just  those  means  that  will   bring  it.     But,  even 
though  the  morrow  should  come,  and  there  should  be  no 
bread,  it  does  not  prove  that  God  is  unfaithful,  for  the 
absence  of  sustenance,  and  the  pain  resulting  therefrom, 
and  even  the  death  of  the  body,  may  be  the  means  by 
which  God  grants  the  greater  good  to  the  soul.     Did  not 
Christ,  by  His  teaching,  intend  to  form  in  us  just  that  trust 
which  is  manifested  by  the  birds  of  the  air  and  the  lilies 
of  the  field  ?     They,  unable  to  talk  or  think,  trust  His 
kind  providence.     Why  cannot  we  trust  Him,  with  an  in- 
telliirent  faith?     This  is  not  fatalism,  but  it  is  the  fiiith  of 
a  soul  so  fully  absorbed  in  God  and  in  His  work  that  it 
"  takes  no  thought"  of  those  things  which  the  Father  hath 
promised  to  grant. 

The  words,  "  Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,"  are  full 
of  meaning.  Why  should  we  be  troubled  about  the  things 
of  the  morrow,  when  the  great  God,  the  Benefactor  and 


136  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

Sovereign,  lias  given  His  promise  that  He  will  not  leave  or 
forsake  us?  The  duties  of  the  present  day  are  pressing 
upon  us,  and  their  faithful  performance  makes  such  de- 
mands on  our  time  and  energy,  that  we  can  spare  none  for 
anxious  care  about  what  may  be  to-morrow.  The  present 
moment  is  ours,— the  next  belongs  to  God.  We  have  no 
right  to  take  hold  of  the  future,  except  as  it  relates  to  our 
•own  souls  and  the  interests  of  God's  kingdom. 

It  is  evident  that  any  scheme  of  Christian  doctrine  must 
inevitably  hinge  on  Scripture  testimony, — on  the  words  of 
the  divine  Founder  of  Christianity,  or  of  those  who,  having 
been  under  His  teachings  in  life,  were  after  His  ascension 
governed  by  His  inspiration.  If  the  teachings  of  Scripture 
point  a  particular  course  of  action,  or  reveal  a  certain  path 
of  duty,  we  are  bound  to  accept  and  follow  it;  if  we  do 
not,  we  are  false  to  the  convictions  of  truth  flashed  upon 
our  minds  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

A  careful  study  of  all  Christ  has  spoken,  of  all  the  ex- 
perience of  the  apostles  as  it  has  been  recorded,  will  not 
reveal  any  warrant  for  special  prayers  for  temporal  bless- 
ings, or  any  assurance  that  they  will  be  answered. 

It  is  probable  that  the  prayer  of  Christ  in  the  garden  of 
Gethsemane,  ^^  Father,  if  Thou  be  willing,  remove  this  cup 
from  Me;  nevertheless,  not  My  will,  but  Thine  be  done," 
might  be  adduced  as  a  prayer  for  deliverance  from  a 
threatened  danger.  We  would  ask  this  one  question: 
Did  Christ,  knowing  all  that  could  occur,  fully  conscious 
of  all  things,  assured  that  the  salvation  of  men  could  be 
secured  only  by  His  drinking  all  of  that  cup,  pray  that  He 
might  be  delivered  from  that  which  was  the  one  condition 
by  which  men  might  be  saved  from  wrath,  and  be  made 
subjects  of  the  mercy  of  God  ?  May  we  not  rather  gather 
from  the  passage, — the  truth  that  sin  was  such  an  evil  that 


PRAYER.  187 

nothing  but  the  blood  of  God  could  deliver  us  from  it; 
that  sin  was  such  an  enormity,  and  its  deserts  so  dreadful, 
that  nothing  less  than  the  life,  sufferings,  and  death  of  God 
Himself  could  deliver  man  from  the  punishment  which 
he  had  brought  on  himself?     Where  would  have  been  our 
hope  if  that  cup  of  agony  of  our  blessed  Redeemer  had 
been  a  prayer  for  deliverance  from  those  very  sufferings 
which  He  came  to  earth  to  endure?     Legions  of  angels, 
we  know,  would  have  gladly  gone  to  His  rescue;  would 
have,  by  their  supernatural  power,  saved  Him  from  the 
evil  designs  of  men  ;  but  He  did  not  ask  this.     His  prayer 
was,  that  He  might,  by  the  grace  and  strength  of  His  Fa- 
ther, fully  accomplish  that  one  purpose  for  which  He  be- 
came incarnate,  and  by  which  He  might  save  from  the 
power  of  the  evil  one,  all  those  who  would  believe  in  Him. 
The  biographies  of  eminent  saints,  as  they  are  recorded 
by  inspiration,  are  for  our  instruction  and  for  our  reproof. 
The  life  of  St.  Paul  is  full  of  instruction  to  all  who  will 
study  it,  and  the  lessons  there  taught  must  not  be  neglected. 
After  the  conversion  of  Paul,  he  separated  himself  from 
the  world,  renounced  all  that  in  which  he  had  formerly 
gloried,  and    consecrated   himself  and  all  his  powers  to 
Christ  and  the  glory  of  His  kingdom;  he  lost  sight  of  his 
physical  comfort  and  ease,  and  was  only  anxious  to  serve 
his   Master.     Although,  by  the   faithful   performance   of 
duties  placed  before  him,  he  was  brought  into  great  dan- 
gers and  Avas  compelled  to  suffer,  we  do  not  find  him  pray- 
ing to  be  delivered  from  persecution,  or  from  those  enemies 
of  Christ  who  would  put  him  to  death.     His  own  hearty 
desire,  and  that  for  which  he  would  have  the  Church  to 
pray,  was  that  he  might  preach  the  gospel ;  that  it  might 
run  and  have  free  course.     His  love  for  his  brethren  was 
so  great  that  he  wished  himself  accursed  if  they  might  be 


183  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

saved.  However  difficult  it  might  be  to  comprehend  his 
real  meaning,  we  are  assured  that  the  desire  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  Jews  overpowered  every  selfish  and  personal 
wish.  That  he  was  conscious  of  the  evil  desires  dwelling 
in  his  own  heart,  and  his  tendency  to  rest  on  earthly  things, 
is  evident  from  1  Cor.  ix.  27:  "But  I  keep  under  my 
body,  and  bring  it  under  subjection ;  lest  that  by  any 
Cleans,  when  I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should 
be  a  castaway.''  And  while  conscious  of  the  power  of  the 
old  heart,  he  yet  trusts  in  the  grace  of  God ;  for  in  the  con- 
text he  says:  "I  therefore  so  run,  not  as  uncertainly;  so 
fight  I,  not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air."  In  another 
Epistle  he  says:  '^I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor 
life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things 
present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any 
other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.''  (Kom.  viii.  38, 
39.)  His  confidence  in  God  is  so  great  that  nothing  can 
disturb  it. 

This  same  faith  was  displayed  when  Agabus  took  Paul's 
girdle  and  bound  his  hands  and  feet,  and,  moved  by  the 
spirit  of  prophecy,  said,  "So  shall  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem 
bind  the  man  that  owneth  this  girdle,  and  shall  deliver 
him  into  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles,"  for  Paul,  when  his 
brethren  besought  him  not  to  go  up,  answered,  "What 
mean  ye,  to  weep,  and  break  mine  heart?  for  I  am  ready 
not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem,  for  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  When  he  went  to  Jerusalem, 
and  suffered  all  manner  of  persecution  and  imprisonment, 
and  was  sent  to  Kome  bound  as  a  prisoner,  and  was  "made 
a  spectacle  unto  the  world,  to  angels  and  to  men,"  we  have 
no  record  of  any  prayer  for  deliverance  from  the  threaten- 
ing dangers.     In  1  Cor.  iv.  9-14,  2  Cor.  vi.  4-11,  2  Cor. 


PRAYER.  189 

xi.  23  to  the  end,  we  have  a  record  of  liis  sufferings,  yet  we 
read  no  petition  for  temporal  mercies.  The  experience  of 
St.  Peter  is  of  a  similar  character,  yet  we  do  not  hear  of 
any  such  prayer  from  his  lips.  Now,  the  question  comes 
up  to  the  mind.  Did  Paul  and  Peter,  as  a  free  gift,  have 
any  more  privileges  to  suffer  for  Christ  than  we  now  have? 
Or  have  we  greater  privileges  than  they,  so  that  we  may 
ask  for  temporal  good,  or  deliverance  from  what  we  term 
temporal  evil?  Is  it  not  true  that  Paul,  who  gave  him- 
self wholly  to  Christ,  courted  not  the  things  of  this  world, 
did  not  desire  the  privilege  of  praying  for  them,  and  would 
not  have  used  them  if  granted  ?  Or  is  it  that  we  have  only 
partly  come  out  of  the  world ;  have  divided  the  heart  be- 
tween Christ  and  the  world,  and  thus  have  need  to  petition 
for  those  perishable  things  that  carry  with  them  inherent 
evils  and  bring  leanness  to  our  souls  ?  St.  Paul  accepted 
God's  words,  "  My  grace  be  sufficient  for  thee,"  as  the  truth, 
and,  sustained  by  this  faith,  could  bear  all  that  the  malice 
of  his  enemies  could  inflict.  For  him  to  die  would  have 
been  gain,  but  to  live  was  to  spend  a  life  of  toil  and  suffer- 
ing, that  Christ  might  have  glory  and  His  Church  be  ex- 
tended. Have  not  we,  who  are  born  of  God,  the  same 
blessed  privilege  of  suffering  for  His  cause?  Are  we  not 
striving  to  find  the  easiest  and  most  comfortable  passage  to 
the  heavenly  Canaan, — yielding  to  the  seductions  of  earthly 
pleasure,  even  at  t'he  expense  of  neglected  duties  and 
privileges?  Are  we  willing  that  God  should  lead  us  in 
His  own  good  way,  through  joys  and  sorrows,  pleasures  and 
pains,  delights  and  disappointments,  to  the  infinite  happi- 
ness at  His  right  hand?  If  not,  your  prayers  are  only 
the  imaginations  of  the  old  heart.  Jerusalem  is  not  above 
your  chief  joy,  but  your  great  desire  is  to  reach  the  New 
Jerusalem  without  trial  and  suffering.     You  would  work 

13 


190  TlliyOS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

out  the  way,  and  are  not  willing  that  God  should  ^'  work 
within  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure."  You 
may  be  saved,  it  is  true,  but  it  will  be  as  by  fire ;  but  your 
education  in  the  school  of  discipline  on  earth  is  not  such 
that  you  will,  on  your  entrance,  be  prepared  to  appreciate 
the  glories  of  Heaven  as  you  might.  Will  you  be  con- 
tented with  a  place  of  safety  just  within  the  bounds  of  the 
►heavenly  inheritance,  when  you  might  have  gained  the 
power  of  running,  without  weariness,  on  the  endless  road 
stretching  out  before  you,  and  of  making  rapid  progress 
through  the  eternal  glories  that  are  to  be  your  possession  ? 
These  are  solemn  thoughts, — they  may  soon  be  to  you 
solemn  realities.  Are  they  not  worthy  of  your  careful 
reflection  ? 

In  the  Lord's  Prayer  we  have  the  most  comprehensive 
one  ever  uttered, — a  prayer  to  be  reverently  used  by  all 
men,  of  all  ages,  in  all  places,  and  in  all  times.  Careful 
reflection  on  its  deep  import  should  prevent  that  careless 
and  irreverent  repetition  which  is  too  frequent  with  many. 
The  preface,  "Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven,"  should 
deeply  impress  the  mind  with  a  sense  of  the  infinite  per- 
fections, truth,  holiness,  and  justice  of  the  great  God,  who 
cannot  look  upon  sin  or  insincerity  w^ith  any  favor,  so 
that  the  heart  may  cast  ofl:'  every  cherished  evil  desire, 
and  the  conscience  any  secret  sin,  that  would  make  these 
petitions  nothing  "but  idle  words  upon  a  thoughtless 
tongue." 

The  main  idea  of  the  whole  prayer  is  that  of  a  deep 
longing  for  the  glory  and  kingdom  of  God,  expressing  in 
the  first  three  petitions  God's  relation  to  us,  and  in  the 
others  our  complete  dependence  on  Him,  closing  with  the 
lull  faith  that  God,  who  is  the  highest  good  in  Himself, 
will  bring  to  pass  the  highest  good,  even  His  own  king- 


PRAYER.  191 

(lom.     Let  us  examine  the  Prayer  with  a  practical  intent 
and  purpose. 

"Hallowed  be  Thy  name/'  Is  there  in  your  heart  an 
all-pervading  desire  that  this  Name  should  be  revered  and 
honored  throughout  the  earth  ?  Until  you  have  really  and 
truly  hallowed  it  in  your  own  heart,  you  cannot  truly  ask 
that  it  may  be  honored  by  others. 

"  Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is 
in  Heaven."  AVhat  are  you  doing  to  prove  that  this  peti- 
tion is  from  a  sincere  heart?  How  much  of  your  time, 
labor,  and  wealth  are  you  contributing  to  bring  this  glori- 
ous time  to  pass?  Are  you  aiding  it  by  the  covetousness, 
ambition,  and  pride  that  would  seek  great  things  for  your- 
self, and  make  you  indifferent  to  or  careless  of  all  these 
interests  of  Christ's  Church — the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
the  enlightening  of  the  ignorant,  the  education  of  the 
young,  the  providing  for  and  protecting  the  widow  and 
orphan,  the  alleviation  of  the  distress  of  humanity — that 
are  the  divinely  appointed  means  to  the  desired  end? 
Have  you  a  care  for  the  universal  good,  or  only  for  that 
which  is  local  and  selfish  ?  There  is  no  faith  or  sincerity, 
unless  you  are  striving  to  perform  the  involved  duties,  and 
the  petition  becomes  a  mere  phantom,  except  that  it  leaves 
your  heart  harder  and  more  callous  than  before.  Do  not 
these  petitions  teach  us  that  all  the  peace  and  comfort  of 
our  own  spiritual  life  are  to  be  found  in  entire  self-surren- 
der to  God,  and  in  seeking  first  that  which  will  be  for  His 
glory  ? 

"Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  As,  in  the  first 
revelation  of  truth,  we  are  taught,  "That  in  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth,"  so  at  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Gospel  we  are  taught  dependence  on  God  for 
the  supply  of  all  that  is  needful  for  soul  and  body.     This 


292  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

petition  is  not  for  mercies  in  detail,  but  is  broad  and  com- 
prehensive, embracing  all  material  and  spiritual  gifts  that 
may  sustain  the  life  of  soul  and  body,  and  thus  prepare  us 
for  our  part  in  God's  great  plans.  It  is  for  simple  food 
for  this  day  only.  We  pray  not  for  to-morrow's  bread, 
for  on  the  morrow  we  may  need  no  bread.  And  do  we 
not  also  pray  that  the  material  gifts  of  God's  providence 
^may  by  His  blessing  be  transformed  into  spiritual  food, 
and  thus  be  made  means  of  grace  to  us  ? 

"And  forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our  debtors." 
This  inherently-balanced  petition  regulates  itself.  The 
words  "as  we  forgive"  place  upon  us  a  responsibility  from 
which  we  may  not  draw  back,  and  one  which  we  too  often 
neglect.  How  can  one  who  deliberately  holds  and  cher- 
ishes unfriendly  feelings,  or  an  unforgiving  spirit  towards 
any  fellow-mortal,  take  these  words  on  his  lips?  As  there 
is  in  the  New  Testament  no  other  exhortation  to  ask  directly 
for  pardon  of  sin,  except  the  words  of  the  Publican,  "God 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner,"  Divine  Wisdom  gives  us  in  this 
petition  a  direct  warning  against  that  unforgiving  spirit 
that  would  oppose  the  Gospel  spirit  of  love ;  and  it  is  not 
in  its  essence  so  much  a  petition  for  pardon  for  our  own 
sins,  as  a  command  to  forgive  the  sins  of  others.  As  none 
but  those  who  believe  can  realize  wdiat  sin  really  is,  only 
they  can  make  a  true  and  hearty  confession,  which  in  itself 
is  pardon. 

"Lead  us  not  into  temptation."  In  view  of  the  declara- 
tion of  James,  that  God  does  not  tempt  any  man,  and  of 
other  words  of  the  same  apostle,  exhorting  his  brethren  to 
count  it  "all  joy"  to  fall  into  divers  temptation,  and  his 
calling  those  blessed  who  endure  temptation,  this  petition 
seems  beset  with  difficulties.  We  would  thus  construe  it : 
Leave  us  not  to  the  power  or  allurements  of  our  wicked 


PRAYER.  193 

hearts,  or  to  tlie  power  of  our  spiritual  enemies,  by  which 
we  may  fall  into  sin  or  be  drawn  away  from  the  i)ath  of 
duty.  AVe  also  pray  God  that,  if  the  trying  of  our  fiiith 
be  needful.  He  would  with  the  'temptation"  (trial)  grant 
us  a  way  of  escape. 

"Deliver  us  from  evil," — not  from  natural  troubles, 
physical  sufferings,  or  providential  afflictions ;  for  these  are 
the  secondary  means  by  which  Christ  educates  and  disci- 
plines all  His  children,  that  they  may  be  co-workers  with 
Him  in  advancing  the  glory  of  His  kingdom, — but  from 
those  real  evils  w^hich  are  eternal  in  their  results  and  ruin- 
ous to  our  souls.  Death  should  never  be  an  evil  to  the 
Christian,  for  it  must  be  passed  before  he  can  enter  on  the 
fruition  of  all  his  hopes. 

"For  Thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the 
glory,  forever.  Amen."  This  doxology  is  the  closing 
strain  of  glory  to  God,  teaching  that  the  foundation,  the 
progress,  and  the  final  object  of  the  whole  prayer  are  God 
and  His  kingdom. 

Certain  practical  deductions  may  be  drawn  from  the 
whole  subject.  Every  immortal  being  should  realize  the 
great  responsibility  resting  on  him  from  two  important 
considerations :  First,  from  the  fact  of  his  immortality,  and, 
second,  that  an  infinitely  holy  and  eternal  being  has  conde- 
scended to  place  a  responsibility  before  him.  We  are  not 
conscious  of  what  a  power  we  may  be  in  the  hands  of  an 
Infinite  Sovereign,  especially  when  we  have  fully  opened 
our  hearts  and  admitted  Him,  that  He  may  work  within 
us,  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure.  A  thought,  a 
word,  or  an  act,  may  be  the  means  of  changing  your  des- 
tinv  for  time  and  eternity,  or  may  alter  the  conditions  of  a 
fiimily,  community,  or  a  nation.  A  rational  being  is 
bound,  in  view  of  this  responsibility,  to  appreciate  and  im- 


194  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

prove  fully  every  privilege  that  may  come  before  hira, — 
not  for  any  selfish  ends,  dictated  by  ambition  or  selfishness, 
— but  that,  if  he  be  in  the  path  of  duty,  true  peace,  order, 
and  prosperity  may  result  legitimately  to  himself  and  his 
neighbor.  Being,  as  we  are,  a  part  of  a  grand  plan,  the 
government  and  decrees  of  God,  as  they  are  connected  with 
our  various  duties  and  relations  in  life,  must  be  taken  into 
consideration,  and  our  whole  course  of  action  be  brought 
into  accordance  with  the  perfect  holiness  which  he  has 
placed  before  us  as  the  aim  of  life.  The  happiness  which 
results  from  the  holiness  is  its  natural  product;  but  if  mere 
happiness  be  placed  before  the  soul,  as  an  object  to  be  ob- 
tained, it  will  continually  elude  the  grasp. 

In  the  Eternal  mind,  our  responsibilities  are  just  in  pro- 
portion to  the  light  we  enjoy  and  the  talents  intrusted  to 
us;  therefore,  no  one  should  imagine  that  he  can  be  lost  in 
the  throng,  and  thus  escape  the  fulfilment  of  these  responsi- 
bilities. Neither  should  an  imaginary  sense  of  inferiority 
or  weakness  stand  in  the  way  of  the  performance  of  known 
duty.  Let  the  thought  take  possession  of  the  mind,  that 
if  you  were  the  only  fallen  immortal  creature,  in  a  state  of 
probation,  in  a  school  of  discipline  for  a  more  perfect  in- 
heritance, your  guilt  is  so  great,  and  the  love  of  Christ  so 
infinite,  that  nothing  less  than  His  whole  life  of  suffering 
and  death  of  agony  could  make  an  atonement  for  you. 
His  love  for  you  is  as  great  as  the  love  He  bears  for  the 
whole  redeemed  Church.  Impressed  with  this  truth,  our 
prayers  could  scarcely  be  for  anything  but  those  spiritual 
blessings  on  the  Church,  and  on  the  souls  of  Christ's  re- 
deemed ones,  that  would  best  promote  the  glory  of  God ; 
for  the  whole  economy  of  redemption  involves  the  idea 
that,  while  we  are  praying  for  all  those  whom  Christ  has 
redeemed  by  His  own  blood,  they  are,  at  the  same  time. 


PR  A  VER.  1  95 

asking  for  the  same  blessing  for  us.  Love  is  the  one  bind- 
ing chain.  While  we  may  not  ask  for  temporal  blessings 
for  ourselves,  we  have  full  liberty  to  ask  for  good,  both 
temporal  and  spiritual,  for  the  brethren,  and  have  the 
assurance  that  all  things  needful  will  be  granted.  St. 
Paul  reminds  us,  "Let  no  man  seek  his  own,  but  every 
man  the  wealth  of  others ;"  hence,  all  selfishness  is  shut 
out  from  the  soul  of  the  saint,  and  he  has  neither  heart  nor 
time  to  be  anxious  about  the  supply  of  his  own  perishing 
wants,  for  God  is  faithful  to  grant  what  he  needs.  In 
God's  benevolent  designs,  and  in  the  plan  of  creation,  every 
atom  is  called  into  being,  not  for  its  own  special  benefit, 
but  to  support,  cherish,  and  sustain  all  the  other  atoms. 
It  is  so  in  the  plan  of  redemption.  If  one  member  suffers 
all  suffer  with  it.  The  Church  of  Christ  is  one  perfect 
system, — a  miniature  of  the  universe. 

The  doctrine  that  the  end  sanctifies  the  means  is  a  heresy 
most  disastrous  in  its  effects  on  the  mind  that  receives  it, 
when  the  motives  to  those  means  do  not  point  to  a  })erfect 
and  holy  end.  In  the  moral  world  there  is  but  the  one  per- 
fect end,  and  that  is  the  attainment  of  the  holiness  which  is  an 
attribute  of  God.  The  motives  or  the  means  can  only  be 
sanctified  when  in  harmony  with  that  universal  principle, 
and  this  truth  at  once  places  tlie  whole  duty  of  man  in 
harmony  and  symmetry  with  the  holy  will  of  God.  Many 
in  theory  acknowledge  the  truth  of  this  statement  when  it 
refers  to  religious  matters,  yet  in  that  wdiich  relates  to  tem- 
poral matters  often  practically  proceed  on  the  contrary 
opinion.  If  any  man  in  his  actions  maintains  a  mental 
reservation,  or  works  secretly,  or  deliberately  uses  means 
that  are  contrary  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  welfare  of 
men,  he  is  guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  great  law  of  love,  and 
is  doing  that  which  does  not  spring  from  faith.     The  in- 


196  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

consistency  lies  in  the  fact  that  he  would  sanctify  the  end 
for  the  means;  he  rejects  an  eternal  for  an  evanescent  good; 
he  aims  to  make  the  most  of  time,  and  loses  hold  of  eternal 
interests;  he  rejects  eternal  wisdom,  and  trusts  to  his  own ; 
he  acts  by  sight,  not  by  faith. 

The  Christian  should  not  pray  in  detail  for  temporal 
blessings,  because  there  is  no  promise  that  such  petitions 
>^ill  be  answered.     There  is  no  rule  given  by  w^hich  it  is 
possible  for  finite  beings  to  determine  how  much  they  may 
need  of  perishing  things,  neither  can  they  know  how  much 
of  what  is  termed  temporal  good  would  be  best  for  their 
souls.      The  anticipated    trouble  which  the  natural  heart 
cries  out  to  be  delivered  from  may  be,  and  in  many  cases 
is,  the  means  by  which  God  confers  upon  the  soul   His 
choicest  blessings,  while  the  prayed-for  good,  if  granted, 
might  prove  an  eternal  curse  to  the  soul.     There  is  a  path 
clearly  marked  out  waiting  to  be  filled  up  by  each  rational 
creature.     It  begins  in  time,  but  goes  on  through  eternity. 
The  circumstances  of  each  are  different  from  those  of  any 
other :  no  two  paths  can  be  alike.     Scattered  along  each 
path  marked  out  by  Heavenly  Wisdom,  everything  needful 
for  the  holiness  and  happiness  of  him  who  is  to  walk  in 
it  will  be  found  at  the  proper  time.     These  blessings  are 
designed  for,  and  adapted  to,  the  particular  individual,  and 
for  no  other  one.     Each  person,  in  the  exercise  of  his  free 
agency,  can  secure  the  path  intended  for  him,  and  thus  bring 
his  life  into  full  harmony  with  the  plan  of  God ;  or  he  may 
fail  to  find  it,  and  thus  introduce  confusion  and  disorder 
fatal  to  his  happiness.     The  greater  the  good  to  be  found, 
the  greater  will  be  the  evil,  if  you  fail  to  secure  it. 

H*  there  was  placed  before  you  by  revelation  from  God 
a  true  history  of  your  life,  with  all  its  joys  and  sorrows,  its 
pains  and  pleasures,  from  the  cradle  to  the  coffin,  and  you 


PRAYER.  197 

believed  it  true,  would  you  make  any  attempt  to  change  it  ? 
Would  you,  in  view  of  it,  seeing  the  connection  between  the 
circumstances  and  the  final  result,  pray  to  be  spared  from 
natural  temporal  evil,  or  would  you  ask  for  a  larger  supply 
for  the  w^ants  of  time  ?  And  yet,  if  you  are  a  child  of  God, 
your  way  is  marked  out,  and  it  is  just  the  path  which  will 
surely  result  in  the  salvation  of  your  wsoul  from  sin  and 
death.  If  you  really  believe  that  all  God's  dealings  with 
you  are  holy,  just,  and  good,  why  not  trust  Him  for  all 
things?  Why  not  bring  your  actions  and  life  into  accord 
with  your  creed  ?  Suppose  that  in  order  to  experience  the 
good  which  comes  from  temporal  evils  you  were  required 
to  pray  for  them  just  as  earnestly  as  you  pray  for  spiritual 
blessings,  would  you  do  it  ?  If  you  would  not,  where  are 
your  faith  and  love  ?  Be  thankful,  then,  that  God,  in  the 
economy  of  creation  and  redemption,  does  not  require  you 
to  pray  for  natural  evils,  even  though  they  may  be  necessary 
for  the  perfection  of  your  Christian  character.  You  do,  in- 
deed, pray  indirectly  for  them,  in  asking  for  spiritual  good, 
which  may  sometimes  be  obtained  only  by  them.  Why 
should  you,  then,  pray  in  detail  and  in  particular  for  imagi- 
nary temporal  good  which,  if  granted,  would  be  injurious 
to  the  health  of  your  soul  ?  It  is  a  vain  imagination  of  the 
natural  heart  to  suppose  that  mere  external  circumstances 
can  produce  that  happiness  which  is  full  satisfaction  to  an 
immortal  nature.  Yet,  when  a  Christian's  prayers  are  for 
earthly  things,  he  confesses  that  from  them  he  hopes  to 
have  his  pleasure.  He  says  that  the  love  of  God  and  all 
its  fulness  does  not  yield  him  what  he  wants ;  he  acts  as 
though  there  were  sources  of  pleasures  beyond  God  and 
His  service. 

The  habit  of  praying  for  temporal  good  will  certainly 
lower  the  tone  of  the  Christian  character.  The  Christian  will 


198  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

be  more  influenced  bv  his  natural  heart  than  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  His  thoughts  will  be  more  concerned  with  the  good 
asked  for,  as  an  end,  than  a  means  to  aid  him  in  his  spirit- 
ual progress.  Should  his  prayers  be  heard,  as  they  may 
be,  and  answered  in  wrath,  he  may  receive  a  rod  of  chas- 
tisement, or  a  curse,  instead  of  tliat  which  he  thought  would 
be  a  source  of  happiness.  We  say  it  is  answered,  but  it  is 
a^^swered  in  this  sense, — that  God  has  left  the  soul  to  its  own 
vain  imaginations,  and  to  the  delusion  that  God  has  heard 
his  request,  while  the  thing  wished  for  has  brought  with  it 
a  train  of  inherent  evils,  and  been  transformed  into  a  curse. 
God  may  leave  one  of  His  dear  saints  to  pray  for  something 
which  the  natural  heart  desires,  and  may  grant  the  desired 
object  only  to  show  to  that  saint  the  pride  of  his  own 
heart,  which,  had  it  remained,  would  have  caused  spiritual 
death. 

Another  reason  why  a  Christian's  prayers  should  not  be 
for  temporal  good  may  thus  be  stated :  We  know  not  the 
general  character  of  our  future  earthly  lives ;  but  as  all 
those  events  that  we  may  often  regard  as  trivial  do  have  an 
important  bearing  on  them  and  do  often  possess  an  import- 
ance we  do  not  always  fully  estimate,  it  is  wiser  to  leave 
them  entirely  to  the  disposal  of  Him  who,  to  effect  our 
salvation,  through  holiness  and  likeness  to  His  own  Son, 
delivered  Him  up  to  save  us  from  our  sins, — the  only  price 
by  which  our  redemption  could  be  purchased.  That  love, 
so  pure  and  holy,  should  be  met  on  our  part  by  a  love  that 
is  disinterested  and  unselfish.  If  it  be  in  our  power,  we 
should  exercise  that  affection  which  is  free  from  all  selfish 
motives.  We  should  trust  that  love,  even  though  some 
particular  manifestations  of  it  may  in  this  present  time  and 
to  our  finite  senses  appear  to  be  evidences  of  its  withdrawal. 
Though  clouds  and  darkness  may  surround  our  way,  we 


PRAYER.  199 

may  always  have  the  confidence  that  a  Father's  love  is 
guiding  our  course,  and  that  the  object  of  that  love  is  our 
deliverance  from  sin,  and,  as  a  result,  our  entrance  into  per- 
fect holiness  and  happiness.  Why  not,  then,  like  an  un- 
conscious infant  in  the  arms  of  a  loving  mother,  trust  all 
the  events  of  our  earthly  life  to  the  care  of  Him  who  hath  in 
the  past  given  us  not  only  evidences  of  affection,  but  of  His 
infinite  wisdom  that  would  choose  only  that  which  would 
be  for  our  ultimate  good?  If  this  childlike  trust — which 
is  the  precious  heritage  of  every  child  of  God — was  in  con- 
stant exercise,  our  prayers  ^vould  be  for  deliverance  from 
sin,  for  increase  in  grace,  and  for  high  attainments  in  holi- 
ness, and  not  for  those  things  which,  if  obtained,  woukl 
only  increase  our  pride  and  draw  us  away  from  the  source 
of  true  happiness. 


A  DARK  PROBLEM. 

Among  the  dark  problems  that  have  fascinated  the  minds 
of  men  for  ages,  none  have  been  the  subjects  of  more  earnest 
thought  and  deep  research  than  the  reconciling  of  God's 
sovereignty  and  man's  moral  free  agency,  and  the  endeavors 
to  reach  the  origin  of  evil.  Knowing  that  "secret  things 
belong  to  the  Lord,  but  those  revealed  unto  us  and  our 
children  forever,"  I  would  not  attempt  to  solve  the  mys- 
teries, but  only  endeavor  to  gather  up  from  revelation  and 
experience  some  truths  and  facts  bearing  upon  them.  It 
is  true  that  God  did  take  from  the  Gentiles  a  people  for  His 
name.  (Acts  xv.  14-18.)  He  has  also  declared  that  He 
makes  "His  people  willing  in  the  day  of  His  power." 
Christ  clearly  states  the  truth  "All  that  the  Father  giveth 
Me  shall  come  to  Me,"  coupling  it  with  the  cognate  truth, 
"  And  him  that  cometh  to  Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 
(John  vi.  37.)  In  these  and  many  other  similar  passages 
the  doctrines  of  election  and  free  sovereign  grace  for  every 
sin-sick  soul  are  plainly  announced.  There  is  no  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  any  soul's  coming  to  Christ,  whatever  may 
be  its  merits  or  demerits.  Speaking  reverently,  God,  know- 
ing that  a  rebellious  race  would  not  return  to  love  and 
loyalty,  had  a  right  to  select  a  people  for  Himself  without 
infringing  upon  the  moral  free  agency  with  which  He  had 
endowed  them.  A  Church,  perfect  and  entire,  was  therefore 
ordained  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  before  the  first 
200 


A    DARK   PROBLEM.  201 

law  was  proclaimed,  or  tlie  first  law-breaker  hatl  come  into 
being.  The  special  mission  of  this  divinelj-ordained  Church 
was  to  be  as  a  city  set  on  a  hill,  whose  ligljt  could  not  be 
hid;  to  proclaim  to  a  rebel  world  that  God  was  reconciled 
to  man ;  to  show  forth  the  praises  of  its  Lord ;  to  call  out 
from  the  world  every  sin-sick  soul  that  would  accept  life, 
and  to  prepare  it  by  a  process  of  trials  and  purification  for 
a  high  state  of  glory  and  happiness.  The  peace  and  rest 
manifested  to  every  soul  by  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy 
were  open  to  all  who  would  come. 

In  this  is  evident  the  trinity  of  doctrines, — predestina- 
tion, foreordination,  and  election.  As  the  Holy  Ghost  pro- 
ceeds from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  so  does  election  flow 
forth  from  the  first  two  doctrines.  It  is  the  only  system 
from  which  can  logically  proceed  man's  moral  free  agency, 
by  which  he  chooses  eternal  life  or  death. 

To  claim  that  God  has  decreed  a  soul  to  death,  or  that  He 
uses  any  external  constraint  upon  any  dependent  and  defec- 
tive, though  rational  and  responsible,  creature  of  His  hand, 
is  to  destroy  the  very  idea  of  a  God,  just  as  much  as  to  say 
that  He  is  striving  for  victory  against  a  power  equal  or 
superior  to  Himself,  or  that  He  is  subject  to  uncertainties 
and  contingencies.  The  dependent  being  must  have  a 
liberty  parallel  with  the  responsibility  placed  upon  him  by 
the  Creator,  who,  in  justice,  is  incapable  of  causing  a  moral 
evil  to  fall  upon  the  work  of  His  own  hand. 

An  Infinite,  is  the  great  First  Cause,  eternal  in  being, 
omniscient,  omnipotent,  omnipresent,  perfect  in  thought, 
wisdom,  and  design.  If  there  was  an  original  "  nothing" 
it  would  be  so  now;  nothing  can  come  out  of  nothing.  An 
Infinite  begins  and  ends  in  perfection,  overruling  what  is 
called  evil  for  good,  even  sin,  and  making  the  very  wrath  of 
man  to  praise  Him.     All  life,  thought,  power,  phenomena, 


202  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

emanate  from  Him,  except  sin,  which  is  a  coming  short  of, 
or  a  breacli  of  law,  an  after-event. 

Would  Adam  have  been  susceptible  of  eternal  life  if  he 
had  not  fallen  ?  The  Jews  committed  the  greatest  sin  the 
world  has  ever  witnessed,  but  from  it  resulted  that  which 
is  to  be  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

Predestination  required  the  Son  of  man  to  be  perfected 
through  suffering,  that  He  should  become  the  Son  of  God, 
a  great  High  Priest  and  King.  As  Son  of  man  he  filled 
the  office  of  a  prophet.  Yet  He  was  a  High  Priest  with- 
out a  Temple,  a  King  without  a  Kingdom.  In  heaven  He 
became  a  High  Priest.  When  He  comes  again  he  will  be 
a  King  with  a  Kingdom,  and  perfectly  fulfil  all  the  offices 
of  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King. 

Predestination  is  fact  fixed.  Foreordination  is  order, 
time,  and  limitation.  Predestination  is  a  straight  and  one- 
sided principle,  always  tending  to  perfection.  When  you 
place  your  hand  in  the  fire  it  burns,  but  you  do  not  say  you 
were  necessitated  to  do  it.  You  knew  that  by  the  laws  of 
fire  and  your  own  flesh  pain  and  injury  would  be  the  result. 
If  in  a  thunder-storm  you  refuse  to  enter  the  open  door, 
you  suffer  the  consequence.  In  ordinary  life  it  is  evident 
that  in  some  way  or  other  we  are  the  authors  of  our  own 
natural  evils.  Salvation  is  from  God,  condemnation  from 
ourselves.     (John  iii.  18;  xii.  47,  48.) 

An  Infinite  is  a  law  in  Himself  and  to  Himself,  and 
cannot  come  into  collision  with  what  He  has  pronounced 
holy,  just,  and  good.  He  must  keep  justice  whole,  not  only 
for  the  good  of  the  universe,  but  for  the  subject  of  punish- 
ment, which  is  not  an  arbitrary  infliction,  but  a  manifesta- 
tion of  infinite  love.  There  is  but  one  real  original  evil  in 
the  world, — sin,  the  parent  of  all  evil.  All  natural  evils, 
of  which  we  are  the  cause,  are  for  our  final  good,  if  we  only 


A   DA  UK  PROBLEM.  203 

believe  and  accept  them  as  such.  If  your  house  is  blown 
down  it  is  by  the  elements  on  their  proper  mission  for  the 
universal  good,  and  you  suffer  for  others.  In  our  govern- 
ment we  give  up  certain  natural  rights  for  the  good  of  all. 

While  the  gospel  proclamation  is  in  force  there  can  be  no 
arbitrary  judgments.  The  evils  we  now  ex})erience  are 
from  the  breach  of  law  or  from  the  force  of  natural  laws. 
If  God  manifests  His  dying  Son  to  you  as  the  source  of 
life,  and  you,  exercising  free  agency,  reject  Him,  the 
divine  perfections  and  omnipotence  cannot  prevent  you 
from  remaining  in  death. 

To  deny  the  misconstrued  and  much-abused  doctrine  of 
predestination  as  contained  in  the  Bible,  is  tacitly  to  deny 
the  existence  of  a  great  First  Cause  of  all  things,  as  well  as 
the  law  of  compensation  which  is  involved  in  the  whole 
system  of  creation  and  redemption,  the  consequences  of 
which  cannot  be  evaded.  It  is  this  which  makes  a  rational 
being  a  responsible  one,  after  the  presentation  of  a  simple 
law,  w^itli  no  promise  of  reward  attached  for  observance, 
but  a  warning  if  broken.  By  the  law  was  the  knowledge 
of  sin  which  worketh  wrath.  This  law  was  to  discover 
what  was  in  man,  and  to  reveal  to  man  not  only  his  lost, 
wretched  condition,  but  that  which  he  should  be.  While 
it  could  give  him  no  aid,  it  demanded  death  or  a  substitute. 

Why,  then,  did  man,  in  full  possession  of  the  AVord, 
having  all  that  heart  could  wish,  voluntarily  depart  from 
God  ?  Because  it  was  predestinated  that  if  man  loved  death 
rather  than  life,  an  Omnipotent  could  not,  consistently  with 
perfect  law,  prevent  him  from  choosing  it.  Adam  was  not 
obliged  to  eat  the  forbidden  fruit,  yet  he  did  eat  of  it. 
Here  at  once  are  manifested  })redestination  and  free  agency. 
Man  had  taken  the  first  step  in  the  exercise  of  moral  free 
agency. 


204  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

From  the  Fall  to  the  Flood,  God  left  man  without  any 
law,  gospel,  or  restraint,  with  free  liberty  to  improve  or  ruin 
himself.  In  the  latter  course  he  was  successful,  but  his 
choice  was  not,  as  in  the  gospel,  life  or  death.  As  a  second 
step  in  the  process  of  restoration,  God,  in  pity  for  man, 
took  him  from  the  waste,  howling  wilderness  and  placed  him 
in  a  scliool  of  law  to  train  and  discipline  him  for  a  higher 
1?iphere  of  glory.  He  sent  holy  men  and  prophets,  who 
were  rejected  and  persecuted.  The  more  He  did  for  men 
the  worse  and  more  wicked  they  became,  until  He  said, 
"What  have  I  not  done  to  My  vineyard  which  I  could  have 
done  ?"  and  the  race  was  released  from  probation  as  inca- 
pable of  returning  to  loyalty.  Then  God's  love  said, 
"Perhaps  they  will  reverence  My  Son."  The  forerunner, 
John,  came  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Messiah,  but  he  was 
cut  off.  The  Messiah  came,  but  was  crucified,  and  thus  was 
prepared  the  way  for  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost, — God 
with  us,  remaining  to  the  present  period.  In  this  third 
stage  of  the  process  the  gospel  of  free  and  sovereign  grace 
is  manifected  without  money  or  price:  only  believe  and  re- 
ceive. Yet,  notwithstanding  the  fulness  and  freeness  of  the 
gospel  plan,  its  blessings  have  been  appropriated  by  a  small 
fraction  of  the  human  race,  and  there  is  no  hope  from  reve- 
lation that  they  will  be  the  portion  of  the  majority.  The 
fourth  stage  will  be  when  the  last  sin-sick  or  redeemed 
soul  is  brought  home,  when  the  proclamation  of  glad 
tidings  ceases,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  Church  shall 
have  left  the  world,  and  judgment,  as  naturally  as  by  a  law 
of  gravitation,  not  by  an  arbitrary  decree,  falls  upon  the 
earth.  AYhat  more  terrible  judgment  can  befall  man  than 
to  be  left  to  the  imaginations  of  his  deceitful  heart,  to  be 
led  by  Satan,  captive  at  his  will? 

The  first  Adam  and  the  fallen  race  with  liberty, — Israel 


A   DARK  PROBLKM.  20 O 

witli  tlie  law — and  now  grace  for  the  Jew^  and  Gentile,  for 
grace  is  simply  the  gospel;  come  and  receive  life  whatever 
may  have  been  your  sins.  All  have  failed,  excc})t  for  the 
redeemed  Church  of  God.  The  Infinite  Father  may  say: 
"When  I  gave  my  Son,  I  gave  Myself;  all  I  had  to  give. 
At  an  infinite  cost  have  I  presented  life,  but  ye  have  chosen 
death.  I  would  have  incorporated  you  in  my  own  life, 
love,  and  holiness,  but  ye  would  not."  This  is  predestina- 
tion without  any  infringement  on  man\s  moral  free  agency. 
What  human  power  can  make  a  man  believe  that  which  he 
does  not  believe?  None.  God  only,  by  converting  grace, 
can  do  it. 

One  fruitful  cause  of  disagreement  between  those  hold- 
ing what  may  seem  to  be  radically  different  views  on  these 
important  questions,  is  the  false  conception  of  passages  of 
Scripture.  As  an  example,  take  1  John  ii.  2:  "And  He 
is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins;  and  not  for  ours  only,  but 
also  for  {the  sins  of)  the  whole  world."  While  not  presum- 
ing to  speak  of  the  right  or  wisdom  of  the  translators  to 
interpolate  the  three  words  in  italics,— the  sins  of, — we  ask 
each  one  to  read  the  declaration  as  it  came  from  the  pen  of 
the  apostle,  and  judge  for  himself  what  a  change  is  made 
in  the  sense.  Calvinists  and  Arminians  have  both  rested 
in  the  error  that  purchase  and  redemption  were  one  and 
the  same  thing.  The  Calvinist  is  right  in  the  belief  that 
redemption  is  limited  to  the  household  of  faith.  The 
Arminian  is  right  in  the  belief  that  a  purchase  was  made 
for  every  lost  soul.  Thus  they  differ,  because  each  holds  to 
a  partial,  one-sided  idea  of  truth  which  the  other  denies. 

The  text  in  2  Pet.  ii.  1:  "Even  denying  the  Lord  that 
bought  them,"  clearly  shows  purchase,  and  taken  in  con- 
nection with  Ps.  ii.  8,  John  i.  3,  Heb.  i.  3,  and  Col.  i.  16, 
makes  it  evident  that  Christ,  the  Creator  of  the  universe. 


206  THJyOS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

strengthened  His  right  by  purchasing  with  His  blood.  Take 
an  example  that  could  be  drawn  from  the  now  extinct  laws 
of  a  ])art  of  these  United  States.  A  slave-holder,  owning 
one  hundred  slaves,  having  an  absolute  right  to  them  by 
j)urchase,  declares  that  all  who  will  receive  their  freedom  are 
relieved  from  bondage  by  accepting  his  offer.  Half  of  them 
believe  and  accept,  and  are  at  once  made  free.  The  others, 
t^y-  declining  to  embrace  the  offer,  are  still  his  property  and 
remain  slaves.  Light  is  thrown  on  the  subject  by  Rom.  iii. 
22,  where  the  righteousness  of  God  is  ^'unto  all  and  uj^on 
all  them  that  believe J^  Here  are  predestination,  foreordi na- 
tion, and  election  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  exercise  of 
moral  free  agency  on  the  part  of  man. 

It  must  be  freely  admitted  that  there  are  connected  with 
Christianity  many  truths  which  the  mind  of  man  cannot 
fathom  witli  its  present  capacities.  They  may  be  above 
reason,  but  they  are  not  in  conflict  with  it.  As  there  are 
in  the  material  world  many  influences  and  forces  of  the 
sources  of  which  we  are  ignorant,  and  the  results  of  whicli 
Ave  have  learned  by  experience,  so  there  are  in  the  spirit- 
ual world  truths,  influences,  and  forces,  the  presence  and 
powers  of  which  w^e  nuist  acknowledge  and  act  upon  in  the 
same  way  that  we  do  in  the  material.  However  men  may 
theoretically  deny  the  doctrine  of  predestination  and  assert 
the  presence  and  power  of  free  will,  yet  in  the  every-day 
affairs  of  life  they  practically  admit  the  doctrine.  The 
farmer  plants  his  seed,  confident  in  the  belief  that  it  will 
germinate  and  bring  forth  a  crop,  but  he  is  just  as  certain 
that  all  things  requisite  to  that  anticipated  result  must  pre- 
cede it;  the  law  which  governs  natural  production — that  of 
predestination — is  so  definite,  so  sure  in  its  operations,  that 
no  man  looks  for  a  crop  of  wheat  unless  he  sows  wheat, 
neither  does  he  expect  wheat  if  he  sows  oats.     There  is  no 


A    DARK   PROBLEM.  207 

diversity  of  operations  in  the  natural  and  spiritual  worlds. 
Inexorable  law  pervades  both.  The  confusion  and  dis- 
orders which  j)revail  among  men  are  simply  the  moral 
evils  which  spring  from  a  breach  of,  or  a  coming  short  of, 
those  laws,  which  are  themselves  only  the  manifestations 
of  God's  predestination. 

In  the  mind  of  an  Infinite  all  is  fixed.  These  designs 
take  form  by  two  simple  instruments  in  creation  and  re- 
demption. Law  in  the  material  and  grace  in  the  moral, 
in  proper  time  and  order,  manifest  and  fully  develop  the 
design.  A  broken  law  was  the  first  development  of  sin, — 
an  after-event  in  the  history  of  man, — the  first  exercise  of 
his  free  agency.  Law  is  the  simple  instrument  to  draw 
the  love  of  sin  out  of  the  heart  of  humanity.  By  it  God 
subdues  the  world  to  His  will.  It  breaks  up  the  fallow 
ground  of  the  heart,  drives  out  self  and  the  love  of  sin,  so 
that  the  seed  of  divine  grace  can  enter.  As  air  rushes  into 
a  vessel  when  the  water  is  poured  out,  so  does  grace  come 
into  the  heart  when  sin  goes  out.  When  Satan's  door- 
keeper, the  will,  is  discharged,  the  Holy  Ghost  enters. 

Before  a  watchmaker  begins  to  work  Avith  his  materials 
he  has  in  his  mind  a  perfect  idea  of  a  watch,  else  he  would 
not  attempt  to  construct  one.  He  is  finite,  but  God  infinite. 
This  is  predestination.  Election  proceeds  from  it,  and 
foreordination.  "Make  your  calling  and  election  sure," 
is  a  general  expression  with  reference  to  a  final  result. 
Compare  this  with,  "Work  out  your  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling,  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you,  both  to 
will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure," — both  addressed  to 
saints  under  instruction  in  the  school  of  God.  If  salvation 
is  not  found  in  this  school  it  cannot  be  worked  out.  As 
these  texts  are  sometimes  expounded  from  the  pulpit  they 
leave  an  impression  upon  the  indifferent  or  awakened  soul 


20«  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

that  it  can,  by  the  exercise  of  some  inherent  power,  or  by 
a  vohmtary  act  of  the  will,  fit  itself  to  be  more  acceptable 
to  Christ, — an  attempt  as  sure  to  end  in  failure  as  for  a 
sick  man  to  refuse  the  service  of  a  physician  until  he  cures 
himself.  A  soul  conscious  of  its  lost  condition,  convinced 
of  guilt,  and  fearful  of  the  consequences,  yet  hesitates  and 
asks,  ^'  How  can  I  know  that  I  am  one  of  the  elect  ?" 
•Now  surely  such  a  question,  which  does  not  concern  any 
soul  honestly  seeking  light,  must  spring  from  mistaken 
conceptions  of  the  doctrine.  It  awakens  a  doubt  of  its 
lionesty,  or  at  least  betrays  the  fact  that  such  a  one  has 
no  real  conception,  in  the  gospel  sense,  of  his  peril  while 
out  of  Christ.  It  is  like  a  drowning  man  endeavoring  to 
reach  the  farthest  of  two  ripples  in  the  offing.  Aiming  to 
be  one  of  the  elect  as  an  object  insures  failure.  It  is  a 
nonentity.  One  who  starts  for  the  goal  naked,  hoping  to 
acquire  the  robe  of  Christ's  righteousness  will  surely  miss 
it,  but  one  who  starts  with  sin  forgiven  is  clothed  in  the 
righteousness  of  God.  One  who  asks,  ^'How  am  I  to 
know  that  I  am  one  of  the  elect  ?"  betrays  the  fact  that  he 
has  not  realized  his  lost,  helpless  condition,  without  the 
sense  of  which  he  cannot  receive  the  grace  of  God.  The 
exhortation  of  Peter,  "to  make  your  calling  and  election 
sure,''  is  not  a  command  in  a  legal  spirit,  but  a  kindly  ex- 
hortation to  avoid  that  which  might  be  an  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  receiving  that  grace  which  is  granted,  not  for,  but 
by,  God's  appointed  and  revealed  means.  The  process  is, 
come,  believe,  and  receive  life.  The  Holy  Spirit  enters 
into  and  possesses  the  soul,  assumes  all  the  responsibility : 
you  yield  to  His  leading,  you  obey,  and  are  led  into  the 
presence  of  God,  where  there  is  fulness  of  joy  and  your 
election  made  sure.  Law  existed  before  grace ;  therefore, 
predestination  is  unchangeable,  an  inexorable  law  that  no 


A  DARK   PROBLEM.  209 

finite,  rational  creature  can  evade.  Whatever  theoretical 
difficulties  may  cluster  about  the  doctrine,  it  is  clear  that 
the  way  of  attainment  of  a  state  of  peace  and  rest  is  plainly 
marked  out  in  the  Scripture,  and  that  any  human  soul 
yielding  to  the  divine  influences  exerted  upon  it  will  be 
led  into  the  path  of  eternal  life. 


APHORISMS  AND  REFJ^ECTIONS. 

The  Gospel  of  Grace  is  not  the  Messianic  or  Judicial 
Gospel  preached  by  Christ, — it  is  not  the  dispensation  of 
the  law  in  which  works  are  a  means  to  gain  a  good  or 
avoid  an  evil.  The  works  of  a  Christian  are  only  the 
natural  issue  from,  and  fruits  of,  Grace. 

Christ  did  not  preach  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  to  the  Gentiles,  neither  did  He  permit  His  disciples 
to  do  so.  The  Messianic  Gospel  was  preached  by  the  Son 
of  man  to  Jews  only,  and  has  exclusive  reference  to  Christ's 
kingdom  on  earth.  The  Gospel  of  Grace  was  designed 
by  the  Eternal  Mind  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
for  a  special  purpose,  separate  from  and  independent  of 
all  other  systems. 

The  Gospel  of  Grace,  which  is  heavenly  and  spiritual, 
came  by  and  through  the  Son  of  God.  Crucified  as  the 
Son  of  man.  He  arose  from  the  grave  as  victor,  assumed 
His  Divine  character, — the  Son  of  God, — and  was  visible 
only  to  believers. 

The  Gospel  preached  by  Christ  was  one  of  works  :  "  In- 
asmuch as  ye  have  done  it  unto  these  (Jews)  My  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  Me."  "  Go  sell  all  thou  hast  and 
give  to  the  poor,  and  come  and  follow  Me."  "  Offer  for 
thy  cleansing,  according  as  Moses  commanded."  The  Gos- 
pel of  Grace  is  life  received  by  faith,  and  the  works  fol- 
lowing are  only  the  consequences  or  results. 

It  is  not  the  faith  tliat  brings  the  life, — the  blood  of 
210 


APHORISMS  AND   REFLECTIONS.  211 

Clirlst  is  the  life  given;  faith  is  the  channel  througli 
which  the  oil  of  Divine  Grace  flows.  We  are  not  to  look 
at  the  act  of  our  faith,  but  to  the  object  of  it,  Christ;  not 
to  believe  in  our  faith,  but  in  that  upon  which  it  is  fixed. 
^ye  are  not  saved  from  sin /or  believing,  but  by  believing. 
Nothing  can  be  added  to  the  work  of  Christ,  for  He  did 
all.  When  the  soul  has  received  life  it  is  ready  to  enter 
the  school  of  God  and  be  instructed  how  to  live  and  walk 
in  the  new  creation.  When  it  believes  it  comes  into  ever- 
lasting life.  It  is  not  to  be,  or  to  come,  but  a  present  pos- 
session. You  are  not  told,  as  in  the  law,  "Do  and  live," 
but  are  instructed  how  to  live.  What  is  instruction  to 
saints  is  not  Gospel  for  the  unbelievers,  for  to  such  the 
Gospel  message  is,  Look,  believe,  receive  life  by  faith.  All 
of  the  Epistles  are  directed  to  those  who  have  been  re- 
deemed by  Christ,  and  to  them  only.  They  only  are  cai)a- 
ble  of  receiving  and  understanding  them. 

The  Blessing  of  Grace  is  not  given  as  a  reward  for  what 
we  have  done,  or  can  do,  in  bringing  the  soul  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  Christ,  or  for  efforts  to  increase  the  numbers  of  the 
visible  Church,  or  for  sufferings,  afflictions,  and  martyrdom 
for  Christ's  sake.  These  are  only  the  fruits  of  obedience. 
If  any  enter  the  Kingdom,  it  must  be  through  much  tribu- 
lation. Neither  is  it  for  prompt  and  careful  attendance  on 
public,  social,  and  private  worship,  or  for  the  exercise  of 
benevolence  and  charity.  These  may  strengthen  the  soul 
and  edify  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  are  the  good  works 
springing  from  the  renewed  heart. 

It  is  no  fruit  of  the  pure  Gospel  when  a  Christian  to 
whom  has  been  given  a  large  degree  of  tcm|)oral  wealth 
and  prosperity,  measured  by  a  worldly  standard,  regards 
himself  as  a  special  favorite  of  Heaven,  and  cherishes  the 
idea  that  he  has  not  been  so  unfoithful  as  his  brethren. 


212  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

He  tliat  would  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus  must  pass 
through  affliction.  What  a  rule  to  apply  to  Christendom, 
wliere  the  prevalence  of  legalism  prompts  the  constant 
looking  for  earthly  prosperity  as  a  reward  for  so-called  re- 
ligious service! 

Neither  is  it  a  result  of  the  pure  Gospel  when  a  saint, 
who  has  reached  a  certain  })oint  in  his  Christian  experience, 
settles  into  a  peculiar  feeling  of  self-complacency  that  all  is 
right,  that  his  salvation  is  fully  secured, — a  most  dangerous 
ground  to  rest  upon,  for  it  gives  evidence  that  he  is  stand- 
ing upon  the  law.  There  is  no  resting-place  in  an  enemy's 
country,  for  until  the  redemption  of  the  body,  we  carry 
within  us  wicked  and  deceitful  hearts,  against  which,  aided 
by  principalities  and  powers  and  spiritual  wickedness,  we 
must  be  in  perpetual  conflict. 

The  Gospel  is  not  salvation  from  punishment,  but  from 
the  bondage  of  sin  and  the  law.  It  does  not  incite  you  to 
aim  for  eternal  existence,  but  for  eternal  life.  Eternal  life 
is  the  incorporation  of  your  own  life  into  the  love,  holiness, 
and  life  of  God. 

The  Gospel  does  not  merely  bring  the  soul  into  a  con- 
dition of  peace  with  God,  but  it  brings  the  peace  of  God  to 
dwell  within  the  soul.  The  saint  is  not  simply  to  believe 
the  blessed  fact  that  Christ  was  crucified,  but  he  must  be 
crucified,  buried,  and  risen  with  Christ  if  he  would  attain 
the  full  stature  of  a  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  not  to  aim 
for  the  crown  by  evading  the  cross.  He  is  not  to  deliber- 
ately hold  sin  on  the  conscience  unrepented  of,  or  to  believe 
that  sin  does  not  dwell  in  him,  but  he  is  not  to  dwell  in  sin 
that  it  should  reign  over  him.  It  is  not  by  a  voluntary 
act  of  the  will  that  he  can  make  himself  perfect,  but  it  is 
by  obedience  and  subserviency  to  the  Divine  Will  that 
the  grace  of  God  makes  him  perfect. 


APHORISMS  AND   REFLECTIONS.  213 

The  Gospel  docs  not  incite  you  to  seek  for  happiness,  a 
carnal  desire,  but  for  holiness,  a  heavenly  spiritual  desire. 
It  does  not  encourage  you  to  seek  for  peace  outside  of  your- 
self, but  to  seek  it  only  where  it  can  be  found,  in  your  own 
heart.  It  does  not  influence  you  to  live  aright  that  you 
may  thus  avoid  the  evils  of  wrong-doing,  but  that  by  uj)- 
rightness  your  life  may  be  in  harmony  with  the  perfect  life 
of  Christ.  It  does  not  teach  you  to  dread  the  evils  of  sin, 
but  to  dread  sin  as  the  parent  of  all  evils.  A  legalist  does 
good  works  to  gain  a  reward  and  shun  an  evil.  True  re- 
ligion begins  with  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  false  religion 
labors  to  secure  it. 

The  Gospel  does  not  teach  that  God's  salvation  is  a  pur- 
chase to  be  made,  wages  to  be  earned,  a  work  to  be  done,  or 
a  summit  to  be  climbed,  but  simply  a  gift  to  be  received. 
It  teaches  that  if  you  are  in  grace  it  is  of  necessity,  if  in 
unbelief,  by  your  voluntary  choice.     It  does  not  teach  that 
the  visible  Church  on  earth  is  a  place  of  safety,  but  that  the 
Church  is  an  assembly  of  souls  redeemed  by  Christ,  who 
form  and  sanctify  the  Church.     It  does  not  teach  that  the 
saint  should  find  his  home  in  the  world  where  Christ  was 
crucified,  but  that  those  who  possess  the  life  of  Christ  should 
find  their  home  where  He  is.     It  does  not  incline  you  to 
come  to  Christ  by  your  own  will,  but  by  a  realizing  sense 
of  your  need  and  helpless  condition.     It  does  not  teach  that 
God  can  come  and  dwell  in  the  heart  before  that  heart  is 
emptied  of  itself:  self-renunciation  must  precede  purifica- 
tion.    It  does  not  require  you  to  be  a  believer  before  you 
are  a  listener,  or  to  be  a  worker  before  you  area  worshipper. 
It  gives  no  encouragement  for  any  soul  to  say  there  is  no 
salvation  for  it.     It  gives  no  authority  in  the  Epistles  for  a 
saint  to  neglect  his  own  personal  piety  that  he  may  be  in- 
strumental in  directing  souls  to  Christ.     It  does  not  incline 


214  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

you  to  reform  and  elevate  crude  humanity,  in  which  there  is 
nothing  for  God  to  admire,  but  to  accept  for  yourself,  and 
induce  others  to  receive,  an  entirely  new  creation  in  Christ 
Jesus.  It  does  not  teach  that  doing  is  God's  salvation,  but 
that  ceasing  to  do  and  accepting  what  Christ  has  done,  is 
assured  salvation  for  the  soul.  It  teaches  that  the  saints 
who  now  sit  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus  will  in  glory 
9it  with  Him. 

The  Gospel  does  not  present  Christ  as  fulfilling  the  law 
for  us  by  His  life.  The  sins  of  the  believer  are  imputed 
to  Christ,  who  is  holy.  Kighteousness  is  imputed  to  us, 
who  are  sinful.  He  is  made  all  our  sin  as  truly  as  He  had 
none  of  His  own.  We  are  made  all  His  righteousness  as 
truly  as  we  had  none  of  our  own.  It  is  we,  wholly  and 
completely,  that  are  His  sin ;  and  it  is  He,  wholly  and 
completely,  that  is  our  righteousness. 

It  does  not  teach  you  to  look  into  your  own  heart  for 
holiness,  for  there  nothing  but  sin  can  be  found ;  but  you 
are  to  look  to  Christ  for  pardon. 

It  teaches  the  saint  to  be  ever  dissatisfied  with  himself, 
but  he  is  not  doomed  forever  to  be  unsatisfied. 

It  declares  that  the  saint  is  not  a  servant,  but  a  freeman, 
a  child,  an  heir.  It  places  faith  before  repentance,  death 
before  life,  receiving  God's  blessing  before  seeking  it.  To 
seek  for  life  proves  that  you  have  no  life,  for  life  is  req- 
uisite to  acquire  life. 

The  Gospel  does  not  judge  or  condemn  you  for  your 
sins, — that  is  the  province  of  the  law, — but  because  you  re- 
ject the  only  medicine  that  can  cure  the  disease,  the  end  of 
which  is  death.  It  gives  you  nothing  for  what  you  have, 
but  it  will  supply  that  which  you  realize  you  lack  and  need. 

The  Gospel  does  not  insist  upon  external  forms  as  essen- 
tial to  salvation.    While  recoo-nizino^  sacraments  as  a  means 


APHORISMS  AND   REFLECTIONS.  215 

or  channel  of  good,  j)articipation  in  tliem  is  not  an  absolute 
condition  to  tlie  reception  of  the  blessings  they  manifest. 
Abraham,  the  Father  of  the  Faithful,  was  not  baptized. 
The  thief  on  tlie  cross,  an  example  of  human  depravity, 
was  never  baptized,  never  partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
but,  by  Grace,  was  transformed  into  a  saint  without  the 
aid  of  ordinances.  The  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  essen- 
tial to  salvation. 

It  does  not  incline  you  to  make  the  Lord's  Supper  a 
feast  of  bitter  herbs,  but  encourages  you  to  make  it  one  of 
peace,  joy,  and  gratitude.  It  requires  no  season  of  legal 
preparation,  but  it  does  form  in  each  humble  sincere  saint 
a  condition  of  mind  and  heart  that  makes  him  always 
ready  for  a  hap})y  and  profitable  participation. 

The  repentance  of  Jolin  was  simply  a  change  of  mind. 
That  of  the  Messianic  Gospel,  preached  by  Christ,  was  a 
turning  from  the  wrong  to  the  right, — that  shown  by  the 
prodigal  son.  The  repentance  of  a  godly  sorrow  for  sin, 
which  is  not  to  be  repented  of,  is  a  deep  sense  of  sin  against 
God.  This  is  the  gift  of  God  after  you  have  become  a  be- 
liever, and  something  that  can  be  exercised  only  when  you 
have  realized  that  you  are  a  sinner.  The  repentance  while 
under  conviction  is  sorrow  for  the  evils  of  sin,  rather  than 
a  deep  hatred  of  sin  as  the  parent  of  all  evil. 

The  Gospel  does  not  require  you  first  to  do  that  you 
may  believe,  but  to  believe  so  that  you  may  be  taught  how 
and  what  to  do. 

In  the  Gospel  there  are  life-works, — God  working 
within  the  heart  of  the  saint.  These,  however,  are  very 
diiferent  in  source  and  development  from  the  law-works 
performed  for  wages  or  in  an  attempt  to  make  one's  self 
more  holy.  Law-works  may  be  wrought  without  grace  or 
love  in  the  heart. 


216  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

The  Grace  saint  starts  for  the  goal  clothed  in  Christ's 
riirhteousness.  The  leo-alist  starts  naked  for  the  otlier  end 
of  the  course,  hoping  to  gain  the  garment  of  righteousness, 
which  he  can  never  find  or  procure. 

The  Jews  were  not  the  Church,  for  every  Jew,  holy  and 
unholy,  enjoyed  all  the  riglits  and  privileges  of  the  Theoc- 
racy by  reason  of  natural  birth.  In  the  Gospel  the  Church 
^  the  Body  of  Christ,  without  spot  or  blemish.  God  dealt 
with  the  Jews  as  men  in  and  of  the  world,  but  in  the  Gos- 
pel He  deals  with  saints  as  jewels  taken  out  of  and  separate 
from  the  world. 

In  the  Gospel  the  believer,  by  keeping  his  eye  of  faith  on 
Christ  his  life,  is,  hy — not  for — looking,  transformed  into 
the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory,  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  and  thus  unconsciously  becomes  conformed  in  moral 
perfection  to  the  image  of  Christ. 

In  the  Gospel  those  who  compose  the  Church,  let  their 
light  so  shine  that  others  are  beneficially  influenced.  By 
their  imtient  continuance  in  well-doing  they  put  to  silence 
the  ignorance  of  foolish  men,  and,  showing  forth  the  praises 
of  their  Lord,  become  His  faithful  witnesses  on  earth. 
They  are  such  by  living  in  Christ. 

In  the  Gospel  there  is  a  "  name  to  live,"  but  not  a  name 
to  act  or  do.  The  believer,  seeing  his  sins  in  the  wounds 
of  the  body  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  is  more  absorbed  in  the 
''  finished  work''  done /or  him  than  in  that  carried  on  icithin 
him  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Law  came  by  Moses;  Grace  and  Truth  by  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  Law  was  not  designed  to  make  a  man  more  holy, 
but  the  end  of  the  Gospel  is  to  redeem  man  from  sin,  and 
make  him  holy  as  God  is  holy. 

The  Law  was  not  given  to  save  the  world,  but  to  curse 


APHORISMS  AND   REFLECTIONS.  217 

it.  The  Gospel  is  to  call  out  from  the  world  all  who  desire 
to  leave  it.     (Rev.  xviii.  4.) 

The  Law  hath  dominion  over  a  man  as  long  as  he  lives. 
The  Gospel  takes  him  as  dead  to  the  Law,  and  through 
Jesus  Christ  frees  him  from  its  dominion. 

Under  Law  there  is  no  moral  liberty.  In  Grace  is 
moral  liberty. 

The  Law  demands  perfect  obedience,  but  gives  no  power 
by  which  that  obedience  may  be  attained.  The  Gospel 
holds  out  perfect  liberty,  love,  joy,  and  peace  in  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

If  the  Jew  worked  on  the  Sabbath,  the  penalty  was  death. 
If  the  Christian  does  not  perform  spiritual  work  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  the  fruit  or  result  is  spiritual  death. 

Law  never  can  subdue  the  human  heart.  A  view  of 
God's  love  by  faith  melts  it  into  contrition. 

The  Law  was  proclaimed  from  a  mountain's  top  amid 
thunderings  and  lightnings.  The  Gospel  came  without 
observation. 

If  the  Jew  went  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  while  the  High 
Priest  was  there,  the  penalty  was  death.  Under  the  Gospel 
if  one  stays  out  of  Christ  it  is  spiritual  and  eternal  death. 

In  the  Law  man  was  enjoined  to  love  God,  but  the  aim 
of  the  Gospel  is  to  manifest  God's  love  to  man. 

The  Law  says :  Make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit. 
The  Gospel  declares :  A  new  heart  I  will  give  you,  and  a 
right  spirit  I  will  put  within  you. 

Law  curses  every  one  who  contrives  not  in  all  things 
written  in  the  book  of  the  Law  to  do  them.  Grace  blesses 
the  man  wdiose  iniquities  are  forgiven  and  whose  sins  are 
covered. 

Law  tells  what  man  is  to  do  for  God ;  Grace  what  God 
has  done  for  man. 


218  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

Law :  ^'  Pay  what  thou  owest."  Grace  :  "  I  freely  for- 
give thee  all.'' 

Law  :  Do  this  and  thou  shalt  live.  Grace :  Believe  and 
life  will  be  given. 

The  Jew  is  looking  for  a  Messiah  and  an  earthly  King- 
dom of  Righteousness.     The  Gospel  gives  a  Saviour  and 
fixes  us  in  heavenly  places,  our  lives  being  hid  in  God. 
•    The  law  pronounces  condemnation  and  death ;    Grace 
justification  and  life. 

The  Law  addresses  man's  old  nature  ;  the  Gospel  man's 
new  nature. 

Under  the  Law  man  seeks  an  object  to  worship,  but  the 
Gospel  seeks  worshippers. 

Under  the  Law  the  worship  made  the  worshipper ;  under 
Grace  the  worshipper  makes  the  worship. 

The  Law  can  neither  create  nor  remove  sin,  neither  can  it 
form  an  aversion  to  it.  The  Gospel  removes  sin,  creates  a 
hatred  to  it,  and  brings  peace  to  the  soul. 

In  the  old  creation  man  belonged  to  death ;  in  the  new 
death  belongs  to  man. 

By  Eve  came  life,  by  Eve  came  death.  By  the  new  cre- 
ation death  gives  us  all  we  need. 

Law  is  condemnation ;  Grace  is  reconciliation. 

Law  reveals  your  danger,  but  points  out  no  refuge ;  the 
Gospel  holds  out  the  sure  refuge. 

Under  Law  the  Ten  Commandments  are  a  rule  of  life  ; 
to  a  Gospel  saint  they  are  a  rule  of  death,  for  to  him  Christ 
only  is  a  Rule  of  Life. 

The  Law  is  a  work  to  do ;  the  Gospel  a  word  to  be- 
lieve. 

The  Law  would  induce  you  to  avoid  punishment ;  the 
Gospel  delivers  you  from  the  guilt  of  sin  by  (but  not  for) 
believing. 


APHORISMS  AND   REFLECTIONS.  219 

Law  inclines  you  to  act  from  slavish  fear;  the  Gospel 
from  spontaneous  grace  and  love. 

Under  Law  one  works /or  life  ;  under  Grace /ro?7i  innate 
life. 

Under  the  I^aw  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  ;  Grace  makes 
the  gift  of  God  eternal  life. 

The  Law  claims  everything  and  gives  nothing ;  Grace 
gives  all  and  claims  nothing. 

The  Law  worketh  wrath,  but  Grace  works  blessing. 
Under  the  Jewish  Law  life  was  to  be  attained;  in  the 
Gospel  life  is  acquired  and  enjoyed. 

God  does  not  require  Jews  to  go  out  in  love  that  others 
might  participate  in  their  blessings,  but  Gospel  saints  can- 
not refrain  from  inviting  sinners  to  come  to  Christ. 

The  Jews,  as  an  elect  nation  under  tutorage,  are  dealt 
with  by  discipline  ;  under  Grace  saints,  being  in  the  school 
of  God,  are  taught  how  to  live  and  Avalk  while  there. 

With  Moses  all  is  from  man  to  God ;  with  Jesus  Christ 
it  is  all  from  God  to  man.     Law  is  first,  Grace  second. 

Christ,  as  Son  of  man  in  the  flesh,  addressed  Himself  to 
Jews  and  Gentiles ;  as  the  Son  of  God  He  reveals  Himself 
to  saints  through  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Daniel,  the  Jewish  prophet,  was  told  to  seal  up  the  book 
to  the  time  of  the  end ;  John,  the  Christian  prophet,  was 
told  not  to  seal  the  book,  for  the  time  is  at  hand. 

In  Matt.  iii.  3  we  read  that  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is 
at  hand,  but  in  Luke  xvii.  20,  and  xxii.  16-18,  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  by  observation. 

The  first  Sabbath  was  in  commemoration  of  creation,  was 
nullified  by  sin  ;  the  second  Sabbath,  that  of  the  Law,  on 
the  seventh  day,  has  not  been  abrogated ;  but  the  Gospel 
Sabbath,  or  Lord's  Day,  is  the  first  day  of  the  week. 

The  expectations  of  the  Jew  who  keeps  the  Law,  and 


220  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

thus  lives  by  it,  are  all  of  an  eartlily,  perishing  nature ;  the 
hopes  of  the  Gospel  saint  are  fixed  on  that  incorruptible 
inheritance  reserved  in  Heaven. 

The  foundation  i)rinciples  of  the  doctrines  of  Grace  are 
found  in  Romans,  from  the  third  to  ninth  chapters.  The 
doctrine  of  Justification  is  plainly  recorded  in  the  third 
and  fourth  chapters,  the  privileges  of  the  believer  in  the 
•fifth,  his  character  and  duties  in  the  sixth,  his  conflicts  in 
the  seventh,  and  his  glorious  triumph  in  the  eighth. 

Some  Christians  flatter  themselves  that  they  have  attained 
the  condition  described  in  the  eighth  chapter,  while  their 
true  position  is  below  the  seventh.  So  deceitful  are  human 
hearts,  and  so  powerful  are  the  temptations  of  Satan,  that 
many  believers  fall  into  a  self-complacency  which  leads 
them  to  suppose  they  are  special  favorites  of  Heaven,  and 
some  are  so  far  deluded  as  to  imagine  that  they  have  passed 
beyond  the  power  of  temptation  or  the  possibility  of  sin. 
They  are,  indeed,  members  of  the  one  body,  Christ,  and  re- 
ceive a  dividend  of  Grace  according  to  their  faith,  but  no 
more.  As  far  as  the  inclination  of  the  heart  goes,  to  be  perfect 
in  spirit  like  Christ,  the  new  man  is  perfect;  but  holding 
within  himself  the  two  antagonistic  natures  of  flesh  and 
spirit,  he  is  subjected  to  a  warfare  continuing  until  the  re- 
demption of  the  body.  Yet,  he  cannot  hold  unrepented 
sin  on  his  conscience ;  if  he  does,  it  only  proves  that  he  was 
never  born  of  God. 

The  Son  of  man  is  heir  of  all  things ;  to  Him  all  power 
and  judgment  are  given  ;  in  Him  are  hid  all  the  treasures 
of  wisdom  and  knowledge. 

Life,  in  its  true  sense,  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  purchased 
by  man.  Life  is  given  to  the  believer  as  a  free  gift.  God 
sees  nothing  in  man  to  admire,  but,  looking  upon  him,  sees 
what  he  lacks  and  what  he  needs  in  Himself. 


APHORISMS  AND   REFLECTIONS.  221 

No  good  or  holy  action  cim  precede  life,  which  is  im- 
planted when  the  Holy  Ghost  makes  the  body  its  temple. 

No  salvation  by  works;  no  salvation  without  works. 

First  the  gift,  then  the  result;  first  the  tree,  then  the 
fruit;  first  the  saint,  then  the  service;  first  the  life,  then 
the  action  ;  first  salvation,  then  the  evidence. 

Believing  and  receiving  Christ  require  no  preliminary 
works.  With  the  first  sight  is  "the  accej)ted  time." 
Christ  has  done  all  for  you.  Receive  His  testimony  and 
live. 

If  you  are  preparing  to  enter  heaven,  you  will  never  be 
ready.  The  Holy  Spirit  calls  yon  into  life,  that  you  may 
be  prepared  and  ready  to  enter  into  eternal  life, — called 
into  earthly  life  that  you  may  enter  into  heavenly  places  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  be  susceptible  of  enjoying  eternal  glories. 
The  closing  of  earthly  life  is  no  time  to  prepare  for  another 
world,  which,  though  certain,  is  unknown. 

You  say  you  cannot /eeZ  as  Christians  say  they  do,  or  as 
you  think  they  ought;  but  feeling  is  not  faith.  Christ's 
work  has  been  done,  independent  of  your  feelings.  Faith 
comes  first,  feeling  follows  as  a  natural  result.  You  pray, 
but  do  not  believe  you  will  receive  that  which  you  ask  for 
because  you  do  not  feel.     This  is  a  carnal,  legal  spirit. 

Faith  is  a  fruit  of  believing  and  obeying  God's  Word 
without  cavilling,  questioning,  or  waiting  to  prove  that  it 
is  true.  There  can  be  no  preparation,  dictation,  calculating 
of  consequences,  or  any  aiming  for  a  future  object. 

A  humble,  resolute  saint  is  not  so  much  aiming  for  per- 
fection and  holiness,  as  he  is  fleeing  from  and  resisting  the 
power  and  pollution  of  sin,  and  keeping  his  garments  un- 
spotted from  the  world.  By  striving  to  be  unblamable 
and  without  rebuke,  he  would  be  ready  at  the  coming  of 
the  Lord.     AVhile   keeping  his  heart  with  diligence  and 

15 


222  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

continually  rooting  out  his  imperfections,  he  is  constantly 
heading  towards  perfection,  while  not  placing  it  before  him 
as  an  object. 

AVe  must  be  listeners  before  we  can  be  believers, — wor- 
shippers before  we  can  be  workers. 

The  saint's  service  is  not  that  of  an  unwilling  slave,  but 
that  of  a  sincere  lover.  God  is  not  an  exactor,  but  a  loving 
•free  giver. 

To  believe  in  Christ's  body — the  Church — as  our  life 
and  light  is  one  thing,  but  to  patronize  the  Church  for 
personal  comfort  or  the  well-being  of  our  families  in  time 
is  quite  another  motive. 

The  Gospel  of  Grace  touches  many,  but  triumphs  over 
few.  Many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen  to  holy  service 
and  high  reward. 

One  born  of  God  may  have  sin  dwelling  in  him,  but  he 
does  not  dwell  in  sin.  There  is  a  great  difference  between 
a  soul  struggling  against  sin  which  it  hates,  and  one  wallow- 
ing in  sin  which  it  loves. 

There  are  in  God's  Kingdom  Abrahams  and  Lots, 
Marys  and  Marthas;  those  whose  hearts  and  affections 
are  fully  engrossed  in  Christ's  present  and  future  glory, — 
pilgrims  and  strangers,  having  no  continuing  city, — and 
those  who  are  struggling  between  law  and  grace,  or  con- 
science and  grace,  heaven  and  earth,  not  having  comfort, 
joy,  and  peace  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  having  too  much 
light  to  find  satisfaction  in  thino-s  of  earth. 

Soon  after  Pentecost,  when  Christendom  was  of  one 
mind  and  spirit,  Christianity  spread  rapidly,  and  the  num- 
ber of  souls  converted  was  perhaps  greater  in  proportion  to 
the  population  than  at  any  time  since.  As  soon  as  it  be- 
came popular  and  successful  in  a  worldly  sense,  the  Church 
was  made  the  theatre  for  the  exercise  of  selfish  ambition, 


APHORISMS  AND   REFLECTIONS.  223 

pride,  and  power.  Errors  of  doctrine  and  practice  crept 
in,  and  that  unlioly  alliance  between  the  Church  and  the 
world  was  formed,  which  has  continued  ever  since.  The 
Holy  Spirit  was  grieved  and  departed.  Since  that  time  we 
do  not  believe  there  has  been  such  an  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  like  that  at  Pentecost.  There  have  been  outpour- 
ings of  the  Spirit  in  measure,  for  the  Spirit  will  bring 
home  every  soul  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  Judging 
from  the  lives  of  the  great  mass  of  those  who  have  joined 
the  visible  Churcli,  they  might  be  called  surface  or  gal- 
vanized Christians.  Christendom  has  not  continued  in  the 
goodness  of  her  Lord,  and  must  meet  her  doom  (Rev.  iii. 
16  and  xviii.  24),  because  she  has  left  her  first  love. 

A  soul  truly  born  of  God  will  be  kept  by  the  power  of 
God  through  faith  unto  salvation,  and  for  such  there  can 
be  no  falling  from  grace.  "He  which  hath  begun  a  good 
work  in  you,  will  perform  it  unto  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ." 
But  one,  impressed  by  the  apparent  application  of  the 
words,  quotes  2  Chron.  xv.  2 :  "  The  Lord  is  with  you 
while  you  be  with  Him ;  and  if  ye  seek  Him,  He  will  be 
found  of  you;  but  if  you  forsake  Him,  He  will  forsake 
you."  This  is  consistent  and  true,  for  God  is  always  ac- 
cessible to,  and  may  be  approached  by,  the  humble,  sincere 
soul.  But  it  is  a  perversion  of  truth  to  apply  this  state- 
ment to  the  Grace  dispensation,  for  the  passage  in  its  con- 
nection was  addressed  to  Jews,  man  in  the  world  and  the 
flesh,  under  law,  and  in  a  condition  where  he  was  being 
disciplined  and  prepared  for  a  higher  sphere.  The  Gospel 
saint  is  out  of  the  world,  dead  to  sin,  the  flesh,  and  the 
law.  As  well  quote  Ezck.  xviii.  24-26.  While  it  is 
good  to  be  a  subject  of  God's  moral  government,  it  is  bet- 
ter to  be  a  possessor  of  eternal  life,  and  a  subject  of  God's 
unchangeable  grace.     God  makes  the  body  of  the  saint  the 


224  THINGS  OF  THE  KIXGDOM. 

temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  wills  and  works  within  to 
do  the  whole  work,  and  to  give  continual  life  to  the  soul. 
The  subject  works  as  if  all  depended  on  working,  and  be- 
liev^es  as  if  all  depended  on  faith  in  the  blood  of  Christ. 
Yet  he  realizes  that  he  can  do  nothing  of  himself,  for 
Christ  has  done  all.  We  are  to  discharge  Satan's  door- 
keeper, the  will ;  then  the  Holy  Spirit  applies  Christ's 
finished  salvation,  the  fruits  of  which  are  good  works  and 
a  holy  life. 

Having  entered  the  school  of  God,  the  Holy  Spirit  being 
our  guide  and  teacher,  we  are  exhorted  to  walk  worthy  of 
our  vocation  as  heirs  of  God  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ. 
The  saints  do  not  perform  good  works  to  be  made  more 
holy,  but  because  they  are  holy,  separate  from  the  world, 
and  set  apart  by  the  Spirit  for  high  service  and  holy  duty. 
They  do  not  work  for  life,  but  because  they  have  received 
the  life  of  Christ.  The  gracious  encouragement  to  a  saint 
to  progress  in  the  divine  life  is  found  in  the  fifth  chapter 
of  Hebrews,  from  eleventh  verse  to  the  close  of  the  sixth 
chapter.  This  portion  of  Scripture  is  a  parenthesis  through 
which,  by  the  Word  and  Spirit,  we  may  be  carried  to  un- 
known heights.  We  may  attempt  to  mark  out  God's  plan 
of  salvation,  may  be  able  to  argue  logically  on  the  doctrines 
of  Divine  sovereignty,  or  of  prophecy,  or  of  the  resurrec- 
tion and  union  with  Christ  by  the  Spirit,  yet  all  may 
be  simply  an  intellectual  exercise  that  does  not  feed  or 
strengthen  the  soul,  and  is  destitute  of  humility  and  self- 
abasement,  and  not  governed  by  perfect  love  to  God  and 
man.  To  be  content  with  a  name  to  live,  without  the  in- 
dwelling of  the  life  of  Christ,  is  a  sad  dereliction  of  duty 
and  obedience. 


THE   SABBATH. 

An  intelligent  and  scripturally-based  appreciation  of  the 
Day  of  Holy  Rest,  involving,  as  it  does,  important  practical 
results  to  both  Church  and  State,  is  a  subject  worthy  of 
careful  research  and  deep  thought  on  the  part  of  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  either.  To  those  who 
are  component  parts  of  the  Church  and  State  the  ^^  Sabbath 
question"  will  have  a  twofold  importance,  for  it  has  an  in- 
timate relation  with  all  that  God  has  revealed  to  the  Church 
in  the  Word,  as  well  as  a  direct  bearing  on  the  temporal 
happiness  of  the  citizens  of  the  State. 

Any  conception  of  the  Sabbath,  that  would  thrust  upon 
the  freeman  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  unyielding  rigidity  of  the 
Jewish  law,  is  as  far  removed  from  the  sjnrituality  of  the 
Law  of  God  written  on  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  is 
that  rationalistic  indifference  or  opposition  which  would 
make  the  day  "  an  occasion  to  the  flesh"  and  transform  it 
into  a  season  of  sensual  or  merely  intellectual  satisfaction. 

After  a  true  appreciation  of  the  Blood  of  Atonement, 
nothing  in  Revelation  is  more  important  to  the  Christian, 
than  a  proper  understanding  of  all  that  is  represented  by 
the  resurrection,  the  new  creation,  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  the  Lord's  Day. 

These  lovely  features  of  the  Gospel  have  been  so  shrouded 
by  Judaistical  legalism  and  human  theology,  that  their  pure 
light  has  been  intercepted,  and  the  Church  itself,  by  hold- 
ing a  rod  over  the  masses  in  announcing  commands  ex- 

225 


226  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

pressed  by  "  you  must"  or  ^'  you  shall,"  instead  of  presenting 
a  bleeding  Saviour  on  the  cross  as  the  manifestation  of  the 
love  of  God,  has  been  a  stumbling-block  to  the  free  course 
of  the  Gospel. 

From  the  earliest  ae:es  of  Christianity  there  has  been 
ever  present  a  strong  disposition  in  the  Church  to  rule 
arbitrarily  over  the  faith  and  practice,  not  only  of  those  who 
►had  yielded  willing  allegiance,  but  of  those  who  were  beyond 
its  pale.  This  feeling  has  taken  shape  in  the  various  creeds 
and  confessions  to  which  assent  was  demanded,  and  in  those 
more  modern  orpanizations  of  human  wisdom  that  have  so 
frequently  shown  the  same  intolerance  which  Protestants 
bitterly  condemn  in  Romanism.  The  Church,  by  methods 
resulting  from  these  agencies,  and  by  its  course  in  pre- 
sumptuously turning  aside  to  do  God's  work  instead  of 
learning  to  depend  on  His  counsel  and  do  His  will,  has 
arrogated  to  itself  the  office  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  assumed 
an  authority  never  granted  to  man.  The  result,  as  far  as 
the  individual  is  concerned,  has  been  an  infringement  on 
the  personal  liberty  of  the  Christian,  which  has  in  turn  re- 
acted disastrously  on  the  best  interest  of  the  whole. 

Springing  naturally  from  the  hidden  seeds  of  Judaism, 
this  legal  spirit  has  strengthened  with  the  centuries,  and 
is  to-day  more  blighting  in  its  results  to  the  Church  than 
positive  opposition. 

Among  the  dearest  privileges  which  God  has  granted  to 
His  children — a  divinely-given  right  which  none  can  take 
from  them — is  that  of  being  taught  in  all  truth  and  guided 
in  all  duty  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  Christian  liberty,  with 
which  all  are  endowed,  and  which  Paul  labors  to  make 
clear  and  plain  as  their  inalienable  possession  (Gal.  v.  1, 
and  Col.  ii.  16),  is  that  perfect  leading  and  guiding  of  the 
Christian  by  grace — that  simple  following  of  the  law  of 


THE  SABBATH.  227: 

God  written  on  the  lieart — which  makes  it  impossible  for 
any  one  to  charge  him  witli  sin  in  religious  principle,  or  by 
the  flesh.  It  is  beyond  the  judgment  of  another,  it  is  an 
individual  possession,  "  for  why  is  my  liberty  judged  of 
another  man's  conscience  ?"  (1  Cor.  x.  29.)  ^' It  is  a  very 
small  thing  that  I  should  be  judged  of  you,  or  of  man's 
judgment:  yea,  I  judge  not  mine  own  self.''  (1  Cor.  iv. 
3.)  But  while  Paul  so  clearly  sets  forth  the  individual  re- 
sponsibility of  the  saint,  and  his  perfect  freedom  from  the 
restraints  of  external  law,  both  in  the  spirit  and  the  body, 
he  at  the  same  time  gives  wise  counsel  and  plain  warnings 
against  the  improper  use  of  the  liberty  which  he  announces ; 
and  let  it  be  marked  that  he  does  not  write  to  Christians  as 
though  he  wonld  exercise  any  authority  over  them,  but  as 
one  who  would  be  a  promoter  and  helper  of  their  joys. 
He  assumes  as  a  fundamental  principle  "  that  every  man  be 
fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,"  that  there  should  not  be 
a  trace  of  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  and  wisdom  of  any  par- 
ticular course.  He  declares  there  should  be  no  judging  of 
a  brother  in  any  selfish  spirit.  He  warns  the  Corinthians 
(1  Cor.  viii.  8-10)  not  to  indulge  in  that  which,  although 
in  itself  harmless  and  innocent,  might  yet  be  a  stumbling- 
block  in  the  way  of  a  weak  brother ;  and  not,  under  any 
circumstances,  "  to  use  their  liberty  for  an  occasion  to  the 
flesh."  Of  similiar  import  are  the  directions  of  Peter,  who, 
while  declaring  the  freedom  of  the  saints,  cautions  them 
against  "using  their  liberty  for  a  cloak  of  maliciousness,", 
and  tells  them  to  use  their  high  privilege  "  as  the  servants 
of  God." 

We  have,  therefore,  in  the  inspired  writings  of  the  Apos- 
tles, two  general  principles  clearly  enunciated, — viz..  That 
there  is  for  all  the  children  of  God,  a  true  Christian  liberty, 
founded   on  redemption   through   Christ,  spiritual    in    its 


228  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

nature,  tending  to  full  deliverance  from  error  and  sin,  and 
uniting  to  God  and  His  Word  by  bands  of  love ;  and  that 
by  the  yielding  of  the  whole  nature,  body,  mind,  and  soul, 
to  the  enlightening  and  guiding  influence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  accompanied  by  an  earnest  desire  to  know  the  will 
of  God  as  it  is  revealed  in  His  Word  and  Providence,  with 
a  constant  exercise  of  fervent  love  towards  God  and  man, 
>the  Christian  is  prevented  from  using  his  liberty  in  any 
other  way  than  that  which  the  Father  intended  in  the  be- 
stowal of  the  gift. 

Assured  of  these  truths,  we  wish  to  demonstrate  by 
Scripture  that  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteous- 
ness to  every  one  that  believeth  ;  that  His  incarnation, 
life  on  earth,  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  form  the 
sure  foundation  of  the  Christian's  hope ;  that  love  in  the 
heart,  flowing  spontaneously  from  divine  grace,  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law ;  and  that,  as  a  consequent,  a  soul  re- 
deemed by  the  blood  of  Christ  is  free  from  the  constraint 
and  commands  of  any  external  law,  and  is  subject  only  to 
the  law  of  God,  written  on  his  heart  by  the  indwelling  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

Governed  by  this  ever-present  divine  influence,  the  out- 
ward life  of  a  believer  must  necessarily  be  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  indwelling  principle,  and  his  conduct  be  always 
in  accord  with  the  Divine  Will ;  any  dependence  upon 
human  strength  or  wisdom,  involving,  as  it  does,  departure 
from  the  source  of  all  truth,  must  result  in  confusion  and 
failure. 

From  the  time  of  the  ascension  of  Christ,  those  who 
were  His  disciples  seemed  to  have  been  strongly  tempted 
to  walk  in  the  old  beaten  paths  of  Judaism.  A  brief  re- 
view of  the  history  of  the  Church  will  make  evident  the 
constant  presence  of  legalism.     While  it  is  probable  that 


THE  SABBATH.  229 

the  legal  spirit  of  the  Jewish  nation  inflnenced  in  some 
degree  the  primitive  Christians  of  the  first  two  centnries, 
yet  it  appeared  most  prominently  in  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries,  when  Constantine  took  both  the  Christian  and 
Pagan  religions  under  his  fostering  care,  and  made  the 
Church  the  channel  through  which  he  dispensed  his  patron- 
age, and  the  theatre  on  which  he  dispkiyed  his  ambition. 
Then  it  was  that  men,  under  the  name  of  the  Church,  but 
in  the  spirit  of  the  old  legalism,  introduced  those  human 
plans  and  measures,  the  apparent  success  of  which  was 
measured  by  the  quenching  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  influence. 
The  Church,  which  claimed  to  be  the  possessor  of  the 
truth,  and,  therefore,  its  most  powerful  ally,  having  de- 
parted from  the  principles  declared  by  Christ,  was  unable 
to  manifest  them  in  its  practice,  and  thus  became  an  ob- 
struction to  the  progress  of  the  Gospel.  Losing  sight  of 
the  fundamental  principle  of  Love  as  an  element  of  tran- 
scendent power,  it  accepted  and  used  in  its  stead  a  legal 
arbitrary  spirit,  which  naturally  produced  the  two  classes 
of  formalists  and  sceptics.  The  one  believed  that  sal- 
vation was  the  result  of  strict  adherence  to  law,  and  the 
scrupulous  observance  of  ceremonies ;  the  other,  convinced 
that  obedience  was  impossible,  and  that  no  virtue  could  be 
lodged  in  a  ritual,  and  failing  to  catch  the  truth  on  which 
both  were  primarily  based,  rejected  the  whole  as  an  effete 
superstition. 

These  classes  are  represented  to-day  in  every  community ; 
they  stand  side  by  side  with  those  who  have  accepted 
Christ  as  their  deliverer  from  the  Law,  and  yielded 
themselves  to  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Nomi- 
nally part  of  the  same  visible  Church,  their  ideas  of  truth, 
springing  from  different  sources,  are  essentially  different  in 
character,  and  must  therefore  so  affect  their  conduct  and 


230  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

lives,  that  union  and  harmony,  even   if  desirable,  would 
seem  impossible  under  such  conditions. 

It  is  important,  in  the  discussion  of  any  point  of  religious 
truth,  that  the  difference  between  the  old  dispensation  of 
law  and  tlie  new  dispensation  of  grace  should  be  clearly 
marked,  although  the  contrast  between  their  spirit  and 
method  has  been  made  evident  by  Paul.  Christians  of  the 
present  age  have  sadly  mingled  both,  so  that  it  is  no  easy 
task  to  separate  them,  and  yet  the  Gospel  of  Free  and  Sov- 
ereign Grace  is  as  simple  as  Infinite  Love  could  make  it. 
It  is  manifested  to  all, — all  can  see  it  without  labor  or 
effort.  It  is  salvation  "6?/,"  not  "/o?-;"  it  is  looking,  be- 
lieving, and  receiving  eternal  life,  freely  presented  in  the 
Gospel.  The  soul  may  choose  eternal  life, — or  refuse  and 
remain  in  eternal  death.  The  soul  that  desires  to  be  a 
child  of  God  is  such,  for  desire  means  sincerity.  He  who 
believes  that  God  so  loved  him  as  to  give  His  Son  to  atone 
for  his  sins,  is  born  of  God.  The  Holy  Ghost  takes  up  His 
abode  in  his  heart  and  affections,  and  makes  his  body  a 
temple  for  His  indwelling.  According  to  the  promise,  the 
Holy  Ghost  writes  the  law  of  God  upon  his  heart ;  God, 
working  within  him,  to  will  and  do  of  His  good  pleas- 
ure, so  that  he  delights  in  the  law  of  God,  after  the  inner 
man,  and  thus  he  is  freed  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death. 
This  is  not  the  work  of  the  subject, — it  is  all  of  God,  be- 
cause Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every 
one  that  believeth,  and  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
"that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us, 
who  walk  not  after  the  flesh  [our  own  will],  but  after  the 
spirit.'^  (Rom.  viii.  4.)  It  is  not  the  righteousness  by  the 
law  which  is  fulfilled,  but  the  righteousness  of  the  law, 
which,  being  holy,  just,  and  good,  can  be  fulfilled  only  by 
a  Gospel  saint.     No  external  moral  law  can  have  any  bind- 


THE  SABBATH.  231 

iiig  force  on  sucli  a  one,  for  he  is  a  free  man  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who,  "walking  by  faith  and  not  by  sight,"  keeps 
his  eye  of  faith  on  Christ,  his  life  and  light,  and  beholding, 
as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  is  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  and,  although  unconscious  of  it  himself,  is  being 
conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Lord  and  Master.  It  is 
impossible  for  man  to  make  men  accept  as  truth  that 
which  they  do  not  believe;  it  is  God's  prerogative  to  effect 
this  work,  not  in  the  way  of  restraint,  but  by  the  presenta- 
tion of  His  Son  on  the  cross,  by  which  the  soul,  being 
drawn,  subdued,  and  melted,  is  induced  to  yield  a  loving 
and  voluntary  consent.  As  one  of  the  redeemed,  the  soul 
has  died  with  Christ, — has  been  buried  with  Him,  and,  by 
resurrection,  made  a  subject  of  the  new  creation  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Having  thus  died  unto  sin,  the  flesh,  and  the  law, 
the  saint  has  entered  into  the  service  of  a  new  IMaster,  and 
is  free  from  all  that  enchained  him  before.  Having  been 
forever  purified  and  sanctified,  he  has  ceased  from  his  own 
works,  and  all  his  active  efforts  are  from  life,  and  are  not 
for  life.  The  battle  for  life  has  been  fought  and  won  in 
Christ,  and  now  the  saint  lets  his  light  so  shine  that  he  be- 
comes a  living  preacher;  absorbed  in  God's  love,  he  forgets 
himself,  and  thinks  not  of  the  light  which  is  streaming 
from  him ;  dependent  upon  God,  he  is  independent  of 
the  world,  and  lives  the  life  of  a  pilgrim  in  the  country 
where  his  Lord  was  crucified.  His  course  is  accurately 
marked  out  by  Paul,  in  Heb.  vi.  1-4,  and  in  Philippians 
iii.  9-15. 

The  first  record  we  have  in  the  Word  of  a  period  of  rest 
is  in  Genesis,  after  the  history  of  Creation,  in  these  words : 
"And  He  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  the  work 
which  He  had  made:  and  God  blessed  the  seventh  day  and 


232  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

sanctified  it,  because  that  in  it  He  had  rested  from  all  His 
work/' 

Tiiis  is  the  substance  of  the  record, — of  its  origin  and 
purpose.  The  Sabbath,  as  a  period  of  time,  was  "blessed'^ 
and  "sanctified"  because  during  it  God  "rested."  There 
is  no  intimation  that  it  had  any  connection  with  man ;  we 
can  discover  no  rule  or  appointment  for  its  observance  by 
■lan ;  it  is  not  made  evident  by  the  Scriptures  that  the  pa- 
triarchs ])aid  the  slightest  regard  to  the  day.  The  silence 
of  Scripture  may  justify  the  conclusion  that  the  first  Sab- 
bath was  connected  with  a  purpose  for  God's  glory,  without 
any  reference  to  mankind. 

The  first  Sabbath  was  commemorative  of  the  creation  of 
the  material  world,  at  a  time  when  man  was  in  the  Garden. 
Very  soon  the  curse  came  upon  the  world,  and  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  day — if  any  had  been  attached  to  it — was  lost 
under  the  new  conditions  of  humanity. 

While  we  may  not  add  to  or  take  from  the  Word,  yet, 
when  we  have  the  statement  in  Hebrews  iv^  15,  "For  where 
no  law  is  there  is  no  transgression,"  and  Hebrews  v.  13,  "Sin 
is  not  imputed  where  there  is  no  law,"  followed  immediately 
by  the  statement  of  the  fact  (verse  14)  that,  "nevertheless, 
death  reigned  from  Adam  to  Moses,"  we  may  with  reason 
infer  that  this  Lord's  Day  of  Rest  had  another  and  much 
higher  object  than  observance  by  man.  Its  spiritual  sig- 
nificance, in  relation  to  God's  jnirpose  of  grace  to  men,  is 
referred  to  by  Paul  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Hebrews,  tenth 
verse:  "For  he  that  is  entered  into  his  rest,  he  also  hath 
ceased  from  his  own  works,  as  God  did  from  His."  The 
Sabbatarians — and  by  this  general  term  we  mean  those 
who  believe  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  either  in  spirit  or 
letter,  is  still  binding  on  the  Christian — narrow  the  mean- 
ing of  this  "rest"  to  that  supposed  to  be  referred  to  in  the 


THE  SABBATH.  233 

millennium  in  the  future;  but  taken  in  connection  with 
the  second  verse,  "  For  unto  us  was  tlie  Gospel  preached, 
as  well  as  unto  them/^  and  verse  third,  "For  we  which 
have  believed  do  enter  into  rest,"  we  prefer  to  regard  this 
Sabbath  of  Rest  as  a  type  of  that  Eternal  Sabbath  of  Kest 
experienced  by  the  saint  when  he  is  made  the  subject  of  the 
new  creation  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  enters  upon  a  rest  from 
the  power  of  sin  and  Satan  and  from  the  bondage  of  the 
law.  He  has  surely  ceased  from  his  own  works,  has  left 
the  world,  and  has  been  made  meet  for  the  inheritance  of 
the  saints  in  light.  He  is  united  with  his  great  High 
Priest  in  Heaven,  and  ''  sits  in  Heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  and,  although  groaning  within  himself,  is  looking 
for  the  redemption  of  the  body,  when  he  will  be  glorified. 
It  is  the  rest  of  the  soul  from  the  dominion  of  sin,  which 
is  in  him,  but  not  on  him  ;  sin  indeed  dwells  in  him,  but  he 
does  not  divell  in  sin. 

All  saints  will  agree  that  the  first  text  that  introduces 
the  spirit  of  Grace  (Matt.  xi.  28-30),  '^Come^unto  me,  all 
ye  that  labor,"  etc.,  refers  not  only  to  the  Jewish  dispensa- 
tion, but  also  to  that  of  Grace.  The  latter  is  the  conversion 
of  a  soul  by  the  Blood  of  Christ ;  when  the  soul  comes 
Christ  will  give  it  rest ;  when  it  takes  the  yoke,  or  is  fully 
initiated  by  the  Spirit,  it  will  find  rest  without  seeking 
for  it. 

The  first  intimation  that  we  have  in  the  Bible  of  a  "  Sab- 
bath" in  connection  with  men — the  first  use,  indeed,  of  the 
word  Sabbath — is  found  in  Exodus  xvi.  23.  When  the 
children  of  Israel  murmured  against  Moses  and  Aaron, 
charging  them  with  having  brought  the  whole  assembly 
into  the  wilderness  to  kill  them  with  hunger,  the  Lord  gave 
Moses  directions  for  gathering  the  manna  which  was  to  be 
rained  from  Heaven.     A  double  portion  was  to  be  gathered 


234  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

and  prepared  on  the  sixth  day,  "and  it  came  to  pass  that  on 
the  sixth  day  they  gathered  twice  as  much  bread :  and  all 
the  rulers  of  the  congregation  came  and  told  3Ioses,^'  who  re- 
peated the  words  of  the  Lord  :  "  To-morrow  is  the  rest  of 
the  holy  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord.''  Then  Moses  gave  the 
people  special  directions  for  the  proper  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  which  was  evidently  a  new  institution  among 
4;hem. 

While  the  Mosaic  Sabbath  was  in  commemoration  of  the 
deliverance  of  God's  elect  nation  from  physical  bondage,  it 
had  also  a  distinct  reference  to  and  was  a  type  of  that 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  which  was  to  be  established  on  earth. 
This,  while  it  was  the  fulfilment  of  all  that  was  promised, 
is  the  foreshadowing  of  that  Grace  or  Heavenly  Kingdom 
which  is  prayed  for  in  the  petition,  "  Thy  Kingdom  come, 
Thy  will  be  done  on  earth,"  as  it  is  in  the  spiritual  king- 
dom of  Heaven,  where  Christ  will  be  not  only  the  King  of 
the  Jews,  but  King  of  Nations.  The  curse  will  have  been 
removed  from  the  earth  and  death  destroyed.  The  Jewish 
Sabbath  will  be  restored, — the  seventh  day,  not  the  first  day, — 
^'  and  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  from  one  Sabbath  to  another 
shall  all  flesh  come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  the  Lord." 
(Isaiah  Ixvi.  23.)  The  fourteenth  chapter  of  Zechariah  is 
a  statement  of  the  same  truth  confirmed  in  Isaiah  Ixvi. 
19-20,  and  emphasized  by  Christ,  as  recorded  in  Acts  i.  8. 
This  judicial  Gospel  will  be  preached  throughout  the  world 
by  the  returned  elect  remnant  of  the  Jews  after  the  Church 
has  been  taken  to  Heaven.  The  Jewish  Sabbath  has  never 
been  changed,  abrogated,  or  abolished  by  any  explicit 
Divine  command.  It  is  the  seventh  day,  and  not  one  day 
of  the  seven.  Its  object  is  stated  in  Revelation,  and  the 
mode  of  its  observance  plainly  set  forth  and  enforced  by 
severe  penalties.     If  the  Sabbatarian  admits  that  Christ,  by 


THE  SABBATH.  235 

His  obedience,  fulfilled  nine  parts  of  the  law  for  him,  and 
yet  holds  to  the  binding  force  of  the  one,— the  Fourth 
Commandment,— he  tacitly  assumes  that  Christ  is  not  the 
end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth; 
that  He  did  not  make  a  finished  salvation,  and,  therefore, 
he  nuist  himself  fill  up  the  remainder.  He  will  also  admit 
that  no  one  can  acquire  rest  or  manifest  true  love  for  his 
enemies  by  keeping  the  Ten  Commandments.  While  the 
law  is  thus  powerless,  we  admit  and  are  assured  that  no 
redeemed  soul  can  receive  life  under  the  Grace  dispensation, 
without  being  governed  by  the  Spirit  and  imbued  with  the 
essence  of  the  law,  which  in  itself  is  holy,  just,  and  good. 
The  body  of  the  saint  being  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
God's  law  is  in  the  heart,  and  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  that 
law. 

It  may  be  noticed  that  all  the  passages  of  Scripture  bear- 
ing on  the  point  (such  as  Rom.  viii.  4;  viii.  2 ;  Gal.  v.  18 ; 
ii.  19  ;  iii.  2,  12,  and  21  ;  Rom.  iii.  21,  22;  xiv.  23  ;  Gal. 
iii.  24 ;  2  Cor.  v.  21  ;  Rom.  iii.  28-31  ;  Gal.  iv.  9 ;  v.  1 ; 
ii.  15,  16  ;  Col.  ii.  14,  16,  17,  and  20  ;  Rom.  viii.  15)  do 
not  refer  to  the  righteousness  by  the  law,  but  to  the  right- 
eousness o/the  law,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  works  in  human 
hearts. 

It  would  seem  to  be  evident  from  these  texts,  that  the  one 
object  the  Apostle  Paul  had  in  writing  was  to  convince  and 
assure  the  believers  in  Christ  that  they  were  absolutely  free 
from  any  and  all  restraints  and  demands  of  the  Jewish  law, 
and  entitled  to  the  full  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 

The  ''  Lord's  Day''  did  not  come  from  any  Divine  com- 
mand or  appointment.  It  was  not  ordained  by  Christ, — 
its  observance  was  not  enjoined  by  the  Apostles.  It  was 
not  a  simple  change  of  time  for  the  performance  of  pre- 
scribed duties  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week, 


236  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

neither  is  it  the  continuance  of  the  Mosaic  Sabbath  under 
different  circumstances  and  conditions.  Its  origin,  progress, 
and  cuhnination  are  different  from,  and  higher,  holier,  and 
purer  in  every  respect  than,  those  of  either  God^s  day  of 
holy  rest  or  the  Sabbath  given  to  the  Jews  in  the  wilderness. 
We  accept  the  "Lord's  Day"  as  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
a  product  of  the  Third  Person  of  the  Trinity  working 
•upon  the  hearts  of  believers  in  Christ,  a  result  of  the  Gos- 
])el  of  glad  tidings,  an  evidence  of  the  death  of  the  law, 
a  j)roof  of  the  new  creation  in  Christ,  and  the  consequent 
liberty  of  those  who  are  united  to  Him.  That  the  Holy 
Ghost,  moving  upon  the  hearts  and  minds  of  believers  in 
the  apostolic  age,  did  lead  them  into  the  acceptance  and 
observance  of  a  day  of  rest,  different  in  spirit  and  significa- 
tion from  all  that  had  preceded  it ;  and  that  the  change 
was  not  arbitrary,  but  fomided  on  events  and  examples 
that  would  api)eal  most  strongly  to  the  principle  of  love, 
on  which  the  Gospel  is  based,  will  be  apparent  from  a  care- 
ful  examination  of  the  four  Gospels  and  the  Book  of  Acts. 
The  example  of  Christ,  or  rather  His  lying  in  the  grave 
until  after  the  Jewish  Sabbath  had  passed,  was  the  death 
of  the  old  law,  as  far  as  its  demands  related  to  the  new 
spiritual  creation.  His  resurrection  from  the  grave — the 
fact  on  which  is  based  the  Christian's  assurance  of  immor- 
talitv — on  the  first  day  of  the  week  immediately  marked 
it  as  a  memorable  day  for  all  His  disciples.  Christ's  visit 
to  the  Disciples  on  that  day,  the  custom  of  the  primitive 
Christians  of  meeting  together  on  that  day,  of  one  accord, 
by  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  preaching  of  Paul 
and  Peter,  the  collection  of  alms,  the  Revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ  given  to  John  on  the  "Lord's  Day,"  are  all  indica- 
tions of  the  presence  of  a  Divine  influence  on  the  hearts  of 
believers.     Since  the  morninp;  of  the  Resurrection  until  the 


THE  SABBATH.  237 

present  time  the  Holy  Ghost  has  preserved  tliis  Day  of 
Eest  through  and  for  His  children,  and  yet  we  cannot  find 
in  the  New  Testament  any  absolute  or  even  implied  com- 
mand in   relation  to  it.     There  is  here,  as  in  everything 
connected  with  the  Gospel  of  Glad  Tidings,  an  absence  of 
that  legal  spirit  expressed  by  '^must'^  and  "shall."     The 
"  Lord's  Day,"  springing  from  love,  is  to  the  saint  the  Day 
of  days,  when,  free  from  the  labor  which  is  necessary  for 
the  supply  of  temporal  needs,  he  can  refresh  the  soul  with 
spiritual  food,  and  at  the  threshold  of  the  week  start  out 
with  invio-orated  ardor  in  his  Lord's  service.     Its  duties 
and  pleasures  are  anticipated  with  delight,  and  its  services 
strengthen  and  edify  the  soul.     To  one  that  observes  it  as 
a  form,  or  in  obedience  to  an  inexorable  law,  it  is  a  fear 
that  bringeth  torment, — a  bodily  labor  that  profiteth  noth- 
ing,— a  service  that  brings  leanness  to  the  soul.     Such  an 
one  can  have  no  clear  and  true  conception  of  the  spiritual- 
ity of  the  law  which  God  writes  upon  the  heart, — of  that 
Divine  influence  which  is  the  "  unity  of  the  Spirit,"  to  be 
kept  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  so  often  referred  to  as  an  ever- 
present  power  in  the  hearts  of  the  early  believers,  as  in 
Acts  i.  14,  ii.  1-46,  iv.  24,  v.  12,  viii.  6,  xv.  25,  and  Phil- 
ippians  ii.  2.     Will  that  spirit  of  "  accord,'^  which  was  the 
characteristic  mark  of  the  undivided  body  of  Christ  in  the 
early  ages,  serve  as  a  thermometer  of  Christendom  of  the 
present  century?     If  the  Church  will  still  hold  to  law  and 
grace,  neither  being  complete  law  or  full  Gospel,  it  will 
reach  that  point  to  which  Laodicea,  the  last  of  the  visible 
organizations  of  x4.sia,  came,  "  neither  hot  nor  cold,"  and 
be  spued  out  of  the  mouth.     That  old  spirit  of  Judaism, — 
naturally  the  resort  of  the  nnrenewed  man,  and  too  often 
of  the  enlightened  soul, — which  Paul  labored  so  hard  in 
the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Galatians  to  induce  the  be- 

16 


238  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

lieving  Jews  to  throw  off,  is  still  prevalent  in  the  Church, 
in  the  face  of  the  completed  Scripture  and  the  experience 
of  eighteen  centuries.  Had  the  Church  yielded  to  the  guid- 
ance of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  resulting  light  and  knowledge 
would  have  freed  it  from  the  grievous  bondage. 

^lanv  of  the  provisions  of  the  Jewish  law  may  seem 
trivial  and  useless  to  those  who  do  not  care  to  look  into 
4heir  hidden  significance.  All  who  read  of  the  paschal  lamb 
do  not  immediately  connect  it  with  the  Christ  of  whom  it 
was  the  type  and  symbol.  But  while  this  particular  feat- 
ure, and  others  equally  striking,  are  at  once  recognized  as 
component  parts  of  one  grand  plan  of  love  and  mercy,  there 
are  in  the  Jewish  economy  many  minor  details  of  much 
moment  that  are  passed  by  without  thought. 

The  frequent  reference  made  in  Scripture  to  the  eighth 
day  strengthens  the  conviction  that  it  has  an  important 
practical  bearing  on  the  time  w^iich  the  Holy  Ghost  seemed 
to  have  marked  as  the  Day  of  E-est. 

Believinir  that  all  the  ceremonial  observances  of  the  Jew- 
ish  law,  as  well  as  most  of  the  historical  events  recorded  of 
God's  ancient  people,  are  connected  with  and  receive  their 
great  significance  from  the  earthly  human  life  of  Christ, — 
the  ordinance  of  circumcision  being  divinely  fixed  on  the 
eighth  day  after  birth,  the  "  wave  offering'^  on  "  the  mor- 
row after  the  seventh  Sabbath,"  the  '^  Feast  of  Taberna- 
cles" continuing  eight  days,  but  culminating  in  solemnity 
and  interest  on  the  eighth  day  in  the  Hosanna  Rabbah, — 
all  have  a  spiritual  meaning  which  ought  not  to  be  disre- 
garded. The  consummation  of  the  vow  of  a  Nazarite  on  the 
eighth  day ;  the  feast  of  seven  days  and  the  ''  solemn  as- 
sembly" at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple  on  the  eighth  day; 
the  purging  of  the  altar  during  seven  days  and  the  conse- 
cration of  the  priests  on  the  eighth  day;  the  sanctifying  of 


THE  SABBATH.  239 

the  House  of  the  Lord  in  tlie  reign  of  Hezekiali  on  the 
"eighth  day  of  the  montli/' — these,  with  other  instances 
that  might  be  cited  where  the  eighth  day  was  particularly 
designated  by  Divine  command  for  the  performance  of 
duty,  may  justly  be  claimed  to  have  a  connection  with  that 
eighth  day  which  the  peo})le  of  God  have  sanctified  by  their 
holy  worship.  If  the  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices,  the 
tabernacle  and  all  things  therein,  the  priests  and  their  gar- 
ments, together  with  all  the  statutes  and  judgments  of  the 
Jews,  in  their  life  and  worship,  were  spiritually  connected 
with  a  promised  and  clearer  revelation  of  God  to  men,  the 
special  importance  which  seems  to  liave  been  attached  to 
the  eighth  day  gives  a  strong,  although  not  a  direct  or 
authoritative,  reason  for  its  observance  as  a  marked  day 
under  the  Gospel. 

Although  the  Sabbath  of  the  Jews,  given  to  them  by 
Jehovah,  w^as  prominent  in  the  law,  and  so  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  Temple  service  that  its  observance  was 
made  a  test  of  faithfulness  and  an  infringement  severely 
punished ;  although  it  was  an  ordinance  of  which  the  Jews 
were  peculiarly  jealous  as  a  national  gift, — a  mark  that 
distinguished  them  from  all  other  nations, — its  claims, 
although  so  powerful  to  them,  cannot  be  connected  with 
the  Lord's  Day  of  the  Gospel  in  any  other  than  a  general 
way. 

Accepting  the  Sabbath — the  seventh  day — as  one  of  the 
ordinances  of  the  law  given  by  God  to  the  Jews  in  com- 
memoration of  their  deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage, 
and  as  a  type  of  that  Kingdom  of  Heaven  to  be  mani- 
fested on  the  earth,  it  may  be  regarded  as  the  representative 
of  a  large  class.  It  must  stand  or  be  swept  away  with 
other  provisions  of  the  law.  The  reasons  for  its  mainte- 
nance are  no  stronger,  and  can  have  no  greater  force,  than 


240  THINGS   OF   THE   KINGDOM. 

those  which  might  be  urged  for  the  continued  observance 
of  the  Passover,  with  its  slain  lamb  and  sprinkled  blood. 
Indeed,  the  Passover,  regarded  as  commemorative  and 
typical,  has  claims  to  a  binding  force  that  equal,  if  they  do 
not  outweigh,  any  arguments  for  the  Sabbath.  Both  were 
parts  of  Divine  Revelation  to  the  Jews,  and  to  this  day 
are  religiously  observed  by  pious  Israelites. 
•  By  common  consent,  founded  with  good  reason  on  the 
declarations  of  the  Apostles,  Christians  have  always  be- 
lieved, and  do  still  believe,  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was 
destroyed  and  abrogated  for  them  by  the  resurrection  of 
the  Lord  and  His  after-appearance  on  another  and  a  dif- 
ferent day.  They  have  connected  it  with  a  new  creation, 
have  made  it  the  beginning  of  a  new  life,  thus  involving 
an  entire  change  in  everything  relating  to  the  external. 
The  Lord's  Day,  introduced  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  is,  in  its 
truest  and  deepest  sense,  the  realization  of  all  that  had 
preceded  it.  It  is  the  spirit  and  life  of  the  form,  the  sub- 
stance of  what  had  been  foreshadowed.  Having  grasped 
the  substance,  who  will  care  for  the  shadow  ?  having  taken 
hold  of  the  kernel,  who  will  look  after  the  husks  ? 

It  is  erroneous  to  suppose  that  the  construction  of  the 
law  on  which  we  insist  will  weaken  the  power  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Instead  of  making  void  the  law,  we  would  the  more 
firmly  establish  it  on  a  surer,  firmer  basis  than  that  of  com- 
mand,— would  base  it  on  the  "  righteousness  of  God," — the 
very  essence  of  the  law, — which  is  conferred  upon  every 
redeemed  soul.  By  this  divine  gift  each  soul  fulfils  the 
law,  not  by  walking  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit. 

The  law  was  for  the  Jew,  and  is  for  every  natural  man. 
Its  restrictions  and  requirements  had  reference  only  to  the 
outer  man, — they  did  not  extend  to  the  motives  of  the 
heart.     In  the  Gospel  saint  the  fruits  that  appear  are  the 


THE  SABBATH.  241 

products  of  divine  love  working  within  him,  the  develop- 
ment of  a  principle  constant  and  uniform  in  its  expansion. 
It  mav  be  urged  by  some  good  men  that  this  sweeping 
away  of  the  law,  which  seems  to  be  the  object  of  Paul  in 
his  Epistle  to  the  Churches,  has  reference  only  to  the  "cere- 
monial" law, — to  that  part  of  divine  revelation  intended 
primarily  for  the  Jews, — and  can  have  no  application  to 
the  '^  moral'^  law,  which,  as  they  claim,  is  eternally  binding 
on  all.  The  burden  of  proof  must  rest  on  those  who  make 
the  objection.  With  the  broad,  general  declarations  of  the 
Apostle  before  us,  we  simply  ask  that  they  make  evident 
from  the  '^  Word'^  that  an  external  law  has  now  any  bind- 
ing force  on  a  soul  that  has  accepted  Christ  by  faith  and 
been  made  a  partaker  of  His  rightonsness.  In  God's  hands 
the  law  and  Gospel  are  one, — the  life  and  essence  of  the 
former  are  perfectly  manifested  in  the  latter  by  the  one 
principle  of  love,  through  and  by  those  whom  Christ  has 
redeemed  by  His  blood.  The  soul  must  die  before  it  can 
live  unto  Christ, — must  die  to  the  law  before  it  can  be 
married  to  Christ,  and,  by  virtue  of  union  to  Him,  become 
a  participator  of  His  righteousness.  Its  freedom  must  come 
only  from  death.  Christ — who  in  His  being  was  beyond 
and  above  the  law,  became  obedient  to  it,  perfectly  fulfilled 
it,  gave  His  life  for  those  whom  the  Father  had  given 
Ilim — hath  forever  delivered  them  from  bondage  who 
trust  in  Him.  If  the  soul  is  under  the  Jewish  law  its  life 
must  be  one  of  fear,  which  bringeth  torment,  and  its  end 
death.  The  attempt  to  gain  happiness  is  futile, — the 
earnest  struggles  only  carry  it  farther  from  the  haven; 
for  the  law  never  contemplated  satisfaction  for  man  in 
union  with  God.  The  best  the  law  can  produce  and  offer 
to  God  is  the  righteousness  of  man. 

If  the  Christian,  who,  by  faith  in  and  union  with  Christ, 


242  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

is  made  the  recipient  of  full  liberty  and  glorious  privilege, 
claims  that  he  is  still  alive  to  the  law,  and  therefore  bound 
by  it,  does  he  not  thereby  deny  that  he  is  a  partaker  of 
that  new  and  divine  life  which  is  hid  in  Christ?  Failing 
utterly  to  appreciate  the  value  of  his  dearly-bought  liberty, 
and  carelessly  ignorant  of  the  spirituality  of  the  divine  law 
of  love  written  by  God  on  his  heart,  he  turns  to  that  ex- 
ternal rule  of  conduct  which  God  had  given  as  a  guide  to 
men  before  He  made  the  full  revelation  of  Himself  in  His 
Son.  Living  in  the  bright  light  of  noonday,  he  is'  still 
looking  for  the  rush-lights  of  early  morning. 

The  soul  that  is  under  grace,  that  has  received  the  power 
of  Christ's  righteousness,  that  has  been  made  one  with  Him, 
is  at  perfect  peace  with  God  and  stands  in  Christ  without 
condemnation. 

The  birth  of  such  a  soul  is  a  great  mystery,  an  advent 
of  a  new  creation,  a  death  to  all  that  had  preceded  it,  a 
part  of  that  plan  by  which  God  took  out  from  the  Gentiles 
a  people  for  His  name. 

The  institutions  and  usages  of  the  Gospel  resulting  from 
the  Grace  Dispensation  were  in  accord  with  its  idea.  Prom- 
inent among  these  was  that  period  of  time  scripturally 
termed  the  ^'  Lord's  Day."  This  was  new  in  its  origin, 
commemorating  a  new  event,  and  was  observed  in  a  new 
manner.  It  needed  no  appointment,  command,  or  conse- 
cration. It  was  simply  the  product  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
moving  upon  the  hearts  of  believers.  We  venture  to  say 
that  any  command  to  observe  the  ^'Lord's  Day''  would  not 
only  not  be  in  harmony  with  the  Gospel  Spirit,  but  would 
present  the  basis  for  an  argument  for  the  binding  force  of 
the  law  as  a  whole.  The  obseryance  of  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath and  the  "  Lord's  Day,"  springing  from  opposite  mo- 
tives, are  attended  with  different  results.     Those  who  re- 


THE  SABBATH.  243 

membered  the  Sabbath  obeyed  a  Divine  command,  and 
received  a  blessing  in  fulfihiient  of  a  promise.  The  day 
was  holy,  and  the  soul  became  a  partaker  of  all  the  good 
which  was  involved  in  the  day.  Now,  the  soul  that  is 
united  to  Christ  makes  the  day  holy  by  the  observance 
and  enjoyment  of  it.  As  under  the  old  economy  the  altar 
sanctified  the  gift,  so  in  the  new  dispensation  the  gift  itself, 
being  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  holy  and  sanctifies  the 
altar.  The  contrast  might  be  advanced  one  step  and  the 
claim  made  that,  while  under  the  law,  connection  with  the 
Jewish  Church  made  holy  the  soul,  under  the  Gospel  the 
Church  is  made  holy  by  the  faith  of  the  soul  in  Christ,  its 
Head.  In  the  Jewish  Church  there  was  no  room  for  the 
exercise  of  personal  faith.  The  law  was  absolute,  the  cere- 
monial observance  was  strictly  enjoined,  the  rewards  for 
obedience  were  promised.  Incorporation  with  the  Church 
was  essential  to  salvation.  The  Church  was  the  only  ark 
of  safety, — the  only  channel  through  which  God  conveyed 
spiritual  blessing  to  men.  Light  dwelt  only  within  its 
borders, — beyond  its  pale  was  deep  darkness. 

Under  the  Gospel  all  is  new.  Religion,  holy  life,  salva- 
tion, the  conditions  of  immortality,  are  no  longer  the  results 
of  a  connection  with  a  Church,  its  sacrifices  and  priesthood. 
They  spring  from  and  are  governed  by  the  faith  of  the  in- 
dividual soul.  Faith  is  the  basis  of  an  individual  trans- 
action between  Christ  and  the  soul.  The  Church — the  body 
of  Christ,  the  company  of  those  who  have  accepted  Him — is 
only  the  result  of  the  faith  of  those  who  compose  it. 

The  Sabbatarian  claims  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was 
merged  into  the  ^^  Lord's  Day," — that  the  two  uniting 
have,  like  the  different  scenes  of  a  dissolving  view,  formed 
that  which  they  term  the  Christian  Sabbath.  This  we 
conceive  to  be  a  mere  human  inference,  without  foundation 


244  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

in  the  Word,  and  in  what  we  have  written  have  endeavored 
to  show  that  the  two  days  were  altogether  different  in  ori- 
gin and  character,  that  one  was  an  essential  part  of  law, 
while  the  other  was  the  product  of  grace,  and  that  on  e very- 
soul  out  of  Christ  the  old  Sabbath  still  held  its  binding 
requisitions.  We  believe  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath — the 
seventh  day — is  now,  and  will  be  until  the  end  of  time, 
binding  on  all  out  of  Christ,  and  that  the  Lord's  Day — the 
first  day — has  been,  and  to  the  end  of  time  will  be,  the  day 
of  rest  for  Gospel  saints, — that  it  has  not  been  and  will  not 
be  changed. 

It  may  be  charged  that  we  are  erratic  in  theory,  censo- 
rious in  disposition,  and  uncharitable  in  judgment.  We 
earnestly  disclaim  such  charges  in  motive,  and  declare  that 
we  are  not  opposed  to  persons  or  associations  in  any  selfish 
sense,  even  though  we  disapprove  of  any  certain  course  of 
action  wdiich  may  make  withdrawal  from  such  seem  an  im- 
perative duty,  but  would,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  endeavor,  by 
presentation  of  the  truth  as  it  has  been  apprehended  by  us, 
to  combat  and  weaken  the  erroneous  principles  which  Satan 
has  injected  even  into  the  Church.  We  desire  to  suggest 
the  causes  from  which  we  believe  the  events  of  the  age 
spring,  and  the  laws  by  which  they  are  modified  and  gov- 
erned. We  lay  no  claim  to  the  position  of  a  brother's 
keeper  in  any  selfish  spirit,  but  do  sincerely  wish  that  each 
for  himself  would  search  the  Scripture,  and  be  fully  satis- 
fied in  his  own  mind  in  regard  to  the  truths  on  which  we 
have  touched  ;  but  especially  do  we  hope  that  each  Christian 
may  intelligently  decide  for  himself  whether  he  is  a  subject 
of  law — the  law,  undoubtedly  of  Divine  origin,  which  gov- 
erned the  Jews — or  a  j)artaker  of  ^Hhat  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  makes  His  ])eople  free," — a  participant  in  the  blessed 
privilege  which  the  Father  hath  granted  to  all  who  are 


THE  SABBATH.  245 

united  by  faith  to  His  Son.     While  clear  conceptions  of 
truth  on  this  fundamental  principle  do  have  a  most  im- 
portant bearing  on  all  the  relative  duties  of  Christian  life, 
their  significance  seems  to  be  vastly  increased  when  con- 
nected with  a  real  and  proper  observance  of  a  period  of 
rest,  be  it  a  ''  Sabbath"  or  a  "  Lord's  Day.''     Differing 
widely  in  origin,  constitution,  and  life,  it  would  be  wise  for 
the  adherents  of  each  to  examine  carefully  the  foundations 
on  which  the  observance  of  either  is  based,  and  the  princi- 
ples by  which  such  observance  is  governed.     AVe  have  the 
greatest  respect  for  the  sanctified  motives  of  either  class  of 
Christians  regarding  the  whole  question  of  a  Sabbath.    Both 
have  the  same  object  in  view, — the  keeping  holy  unto  the 
Lord  one  day  in  seven,  as  authorized  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Both  are  equally  zealous  to  have  it  strictly  maintained,  not 
only  on  the  lower  utilitarian  ground  of  good  to  the  physi- 
cal orscanization  of  man  and  beast,  but  that  it  is  a  means  of 
grace  to  the  soul,  and  will  be  for  the  advancing  of  Christ's 
Eternal  Kingdom  of  Glory.     The  difference  between  them 
must  be  found  in  the  motives  by  which  they  are  governed. 
Li  one  it  is  command,  in  the  other  it  is  love.     But  those 
who  w^ould  be  guided  by  command — by  some  external  law 
explicitly  laid  down  for  their  guidance — cannot  find  in  the 
New  Testament  any  j^ositlve  law  enjoining  observance  of  a 
Sabbath,  be  it  seventh  or  first  day.    They  find  the  Sabbath, 
with  its  typical  significance  and  its  dread  penalties,  in  the 
Old  Testament,  but  no  such  institution  is  discovered  in  the 
New  Testament  after  Christ  had  ascended.     If  the  days 
were  identical  in  all  except  the  mere  period  of  time,  why 
should  the  Sabbath  be  in  the  Old  Testament  but  not  in  the 
New?  or  why  should  the  Lord's  Day  shine  out  from  tlie 
New  and  not  appear  in  the  Old  ?     Running  through  the 
Decalogue,  the  ruling  idea  of  prohibition,  expressed  by  the 


246  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

words  "  Thou  shalt  not,"  presupposes  a  tendency,  on  the 
part  of  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  to  act  in  a  manner 
contrary  to  its  teaching, — a  disposition  to  run  counter  to  it. 
It  surely  will  not  be  claimed,  especially  in  reference  to  the 
Lord's  Day,  that  the  children  of  God,  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  Christ  and  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  so 
influenced  by  evil  that  they,  having  no  earnest  desire  to 
observe  the  ^^  Lord's  Bay  J''  will  do  so  only  when  an  abso- 
lute law  is  presented  to  them.  Sorry  day,  if  this  be  so ! 
God's  chosen  children  are  sanctified  to  an  obedience  spring- 
ing from  the  love  deeply  implanted  in  their  hearts,  which 
is  not  only  in  essence,  but  in  practical  results,  far  beyond 
and  above  that  which  comes  from  an  external  law. 

The  radical  and  the  biblical  distinction  seems  to  be  that 
Sabbath  represents  Creation  and  Law,  while  the  ^^  Lords 
Da]f'  stands  not  only  as  the  symbol,  but  the  realization  of 
Hesurredion  and  Grace.  When  the  idea  of  the  Sabbath 
rest — the  Lord's  Day — is  brought  into  connection  with  the 
ordinary  routine  of  daily  life,  which  involves  an  application 
to  specific  action,  reference  must  be  made  to  that  perfect  lib- 
erty which  every  Christian  enjoys  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  If  he  is  under  the  law  the  Si)irit  has  no  room 
for  exercise  of  His  power.  Liberty  is  only  a  myth, — a  phan- 
tom of  imagination.  But  if  he  is  under  grace  this  liberty  is 
followed  by  a  corollary  of  equal  importance  springing  from 
and  governed  by  the  demonstrated  truth, — viz.,  that  under 
the  Gospel  no  man  2:>ossesses  the  right  to  judge  his  brother. 

And  by-  this  corollary  we  simply  mean  to  say  that  if  any 
brother,  led  by  the  Spirit,  chooses  to  do  that  which  is  not 
contrary  to  the  revealed  Word,  even  though  it  be  opposed 
to  the  practice  we  have  followed  for  half  a  century,  we  have 
no  right  to  judge  him.  To  his  own  Master  he  standeth  or 
falletii. 


THE  SABBATH.  247 

We  are  conscious  that  there  may  be  those  who  will  re- 
gard any  views  that  seem  to  come  in  conflict  with  the  idea 
of  the  Sabbath  held  so  tenaciously  by  the  majority  of  the 
Church  as  the  product  of  an  infidelity  which  should  be  de- 
precated by  all  Christians.     We  are  fully  aware  tliat  the 
ground  on  which  we  are  treading  is  at  present  beset  with 
peculiar  difficulties,  and  that  the  words  written  are  liable 
to  misconstruction.     We  are  not  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
some  most  worthy  Christians,  whose  well-regulated  lives 
bear  testimony  to  the  presence  of  a  divine  power  in  their 
souls,  will  class  us  with  those  who  desire  to  cast  down  the 
barriers   which   restrain   the   outbreaking   of  immorality. 
We  are  prepared  for  the  charge  that  the  tendency  of  the 
idea  which  we  endeavor  to  present  is  the  destruction  of  the 
Day  of  Rest,  the  sweeping  away  of  old  landmarks,  the  abo- 
lition of  long-cherished  and  dearly-valued  privileges.    We 
are  sorry  to  difl'er  from  many  who,  recognizing  the  neces- 
sity of  Divine  guidance,  and  earnestly  seeking  it,  are  yet  led 
to  directly  opposite  conclusions  as  to  the  actual  teachings 
of  Scripture  on  points  that  have  a  practical  bearing  on  the 
Christian  life  and  character.     It  is  our  earnest  desire,  as  far 
as  it  may  be  in  our  power,  to  set  forth  what  we  conceive  to 
be  a  scriptural  truth  in  two  aspects:  that  Christ,  by  His 
divine-human  life,  death,  and  resurrection,  has,  first, — neg- 
ativelv, — delivered  His  children  from  the  bondage  of  the 
law,  and,  second, — positively, — perfected  salvation  for  all 
who  accept  Him  by  faitli.     We  are  striving  for  that  free- 
dom given  to  the  children  of  God,  so  clearly  proclaimed  by 
Paul  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  the  Galatians.    We 
are  advocating  the  spirituality  of  the  law  of  God  written 
on  the  heart  of  the  redeemed  man,  which,  while  delivering 
the  soul  from  bondage,  is  an  active  principle,  leading  the 
subject  far  beyond  and  above  all  that  could  be  achieved  by 


248  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

obedience  to  any  external  law.  We  wonld,  in  short,  sub- 
stitute Love  for  Law, — urge  the  acceptance  of  a  general 
principle  of  universal  application  in  the  place  of  a  rule 
given  to  men  as  a  preparation  for  the  full  revelation  of 
Divine  Love  and  Wisdom  in  Jesus  Christ.  We  would,  if 
it  be  possible,  lead  Christians  from  an  attachment  to  a  law 
designed  for  a  nation  to  a  surrender  to  a  living  principle 
that  will  bind  the  individual  soul  in  close  union  with  the 
loving  Father.  This  is  high  ground;  these  are  principles 
that  may,  by  enthusiastic  perversion,  be  made  germs  of 
evil  in  individual  cases.  They  are,  however,  carefully 
guarded  in  Scripture  by  cautions  against  a  wrong  use  of  the 
heavenly  gift.  If  any  w^oukl  imagine  that  he  is  living 
in  a  ''  higher  life''  than  his  brethren,  and  is  therefore  re- 
moved from  the  sphere  of  temptation,  that  he  is  not  de- 
pendent on  the  truths  of  God's  Word,  that  the  indwelling 
of  the  Spirit  renders  ])rayer  useless,  that  the  exercise  of 
faith  and  the  enjoyment  of  spiritual  ecstasy  relieve  him 
from  the  performance  of  all  the  duties  of  ordinary  morality, 
he  has  forgotten  the  cardinal  truth  that  he  is  a  transgressor, 
— a  transgressor  reconciled  to  God  by  mediation.  He  liath 
need  to  ponder  carefully  Paul's  exhortation,  "  Where- 
fore, let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he 
fall." 

Knowing  that  some  of  the  ideas  in  this  essay — suggested 
but  not  fully  developed — may  be  regarded  as  foreign  to  the 
Sabbath  question,  if  not  altogether  irrelevant  to  the  point 
under  discussion,  but  being  well  assured,  we  nevertheless 
claim  that  the  Christian  view  of  the  perfect  life  to  be  at- 
tained, and  the  liberty  enjoyed  by  those  who  have  a  proper 
and  scriptural  appreciation  of  the  spirituality  of  the  law  of 
God  as  written  on  the  hearts  of  His  children  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  springs  from  and  is  governed  by  the  individual  con- 


THE  SABBATH.  249 

ception  of  the  plan  of  redemption  as  set  forth  in  the  Gos- 
pels and  Epistles. 

Two  ideas  only  can  find  place, — viz.,  Law  or  Grace.  On 
one  or  the  other  the  daily  life  nnist  be  based.  Men  are 
forced  to  accept  the  Pentateuch  or  the  Gospels;  they  must 
either  icork  out  their  own  salvation  or  accept  that  which 
Chrid  has  worked  out  for  them.  If  the  first  be  accepted 
the  Old  Testament  must  be  the  rule.  If  the  latter,  the  New 
Testament  must  be  received  as  living  truth.  While  one 
supplements  and  completes  the  other,  the  underlying  prin- 
ciples of  each  are  so  different  that  a  transfer  is  logically 
impossible.  In  the  Old  men  vow  unto  God ;  in  the  New 
God  makes  promises  to  men.  In  one  man  gives,  in  the 
other  he  accepts.  It  would  doubtless  be  more  satisfactory 
to  the  natural  heart  if  something  might  be  offered  as  equiv- 
alent for  salvation,  but  grace  is  grace, — that  which  is  given 
freely,  but  which  cannot  be  purchased. 

Two  important  facts  of  revelation  must  be  borne  in 
mind, — viz.,  that  God,  in  the  manifestation  of  Himself  and 
the  display  of  His  glory,  selected  a  peculiar  people — the 
children  of  Israel — as  the  medium  of  communication,  to 
whom  He  gave  special  privileges,  and  upon  whom  He 
placed  special  obligations ;  and,  second,  that  corresponding 
with  this  selection  under  the  system  of  law.  He  has,  under 
the  Dispensation  of  Grace,  visited  the  Gentiles,  "  to  take 
out  of  them  a  people  for  His  name,"  an  elect  people,  re- 
deemed by  the  blood  of  Christ,  sanctified  and  enlightened 
by  the  Spirit,  unto  whom  He  manifests  Himself  individ- 
ually, and  who,  by  His  grace,  are  sustained  and  enabled 
to  hold  out  faithful  to  the  end,  when  they  will  receive 
the  Crown  of  Life.     ^'  Against  such  there  is  no  law." 


SUFFERING. 

The  past  history  of  mankind,  as  well  as  the  experience 
T)f  each  individual  soul,  attests  the  truth  of  Paul's  statement 
that  perfection  is  to  be  attained  only  through  suifering. 
In  the  natural  as  well  as  in  the  spiritual  world  suffering 
seems  to  be  requisite  as  an  element  of  purification,  a  pro- 
cess essential  to  the  development  of  strength  and  power. 
By  death  comes  life  is  a  principle  in  constant  operation. 
In  the  coal  we  are  burning  to-day  we  are  consuming  the 
life  and  essence  of  the  vegetable  products  which  in  past 
ages  clothed  the  earth  with  beauty.  The  rich  stores  of 
knowledge  of  which  all  may  be  common  partakers  were 
not  gathered  without  toil  and  suffering.  The  liberty  we 
are  enjoying  is  the  good  fruit  springing  from  the  seeds  of 
heroic  suffering  and  painful  death.  Our  hope  of  salvation 
bases  itself  on  the  suffering  of  Him  who  died  for  us. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  suffering  is  all-prevalent, 
universal,  and  unavoidable,  there  has  been  implanted  in 
each  breast  an  instinctive  dread  by  which  we  naturally 
shrink  from  physical  pain.  We  feel  thankful  for  the  pro- 
vision by  which  a  slight  twinge  of  pain  warns  us  of  and 
preserves  us  from  a  greater  evil.  But  yet,  in  spite  of  this 
shrinking  and  of  this  gracious  premonition,  how  many  rush 
recklessly  into  moral  evil,  which  not  only  causes  the  most 
intense  physical  suffering  in  the  life  that  now  is,  but  awa- 
kens in  the  soul  a  vivid  consciousness  of  future  retribution, 
— that  remorse  which  must  be  a  foretaste  of  the  misery  to 
follow  ! 
250 


SUFFEIUAG.  251 

In  the  Divine  Government  of  tlie  universe,  as  it  has  been 
revealed  to  us  in  Holy  Writ  and  in  the  o])erations  of  law, 
suffering  seems  to  be  a  secondary,  at  least,  if  not  an  essential 
means  in  the  process  by  which  fallen  rational  creatures  can 
be  restored  to  the  Life,  Love,  and  Holiness  of  God  lost  by 
sin.  Man,  having  voluntarily  departed  from  loyalty  and 
plunged  into  misery  and  woe,  cannot  claim  that  God  is  the 
author  of  sin  or  the  cause  of  the  suffering  that  inevitably 
follows  the  breach  of  law.  But  the  love  of  God,  which 
never  deserted  man,  has,  by  the  wisdom  of  a  self-adjusting 
system,  brought  order  from  confusion,  good  from  evil,  and 
praise  from  the  wrath  of  misguided  men.  While  unable 
to  comprehend  this  vast  design  of  justice,  love,  and  mercy 
in  all  its  height  and  depth,  yet  we  know  enough  to  enable 
us  to  rest  in  the  calm  confidence  that  the  ultimate  purpose 
of  an  Infinite  Being  will  be  one  of  perfect  good,  and  that 
by  a  wise  overruling  and  governing,  in  strict  accordance 
with  the  laws  made  known  to  us  in  Scripture,  all  evil,  as  it 
now  appears  to  us,  will  be  a  means  in  accomplishing  His 
final  ends. 

But  the  present  purpose  is  not  to  seek  the  cause  of  evil, 
or  even  to  trace  its  development,  but  rather  to  look  at  its 
results,  and  discover  in  some  degree  the  purpose  and  effect 
of  suffering  as  it  is  so  intimately  connected  with  human 
existence.  The  history  of  the  family  and  people  of  Jacob 
is  full  of  instruction  on  this  point.  In  the  hands  of  cruel 
Egyptian  task-masters,  suffering  all  that  could  be  inflicted 
by  a  despotic  tyrant,  they  were  brought  to  a  condition 
when  they  were  ready  to  accept  help  from  any  source. 
When  God  took  their  part  He  did  not  at  once  by  the  exer- 
cise of  omnipotent  power  snatch  them  from  the  hands  of 
Pharaoh,  but  He  placed  a  choice  before  the  king  in  the 
words,  '^Let  My  people  go,  that  they  may  serve  Me."     In 


252  THINGS   OF   THE   KINGDOM. 

the  presentation  of  truth  and  right,  there  was  an  opportunity 
for  the  exercise  of  moral  free  agency  on  the  part  of  Pharaoh, 
submission  to  God,  and  the  avoidance  of  impending  disaster. 
By  refusing  the  manifested  truth,  which  like  the  sun  hardens 
or  melts,  the  king's  heart  was  hardened.  By  a  natural 
course  of  events  God's  designs  were  accomplished  in  either 
direction,— the  proud  will  of  Pharaoh  was  broken,  and  a 
►Father's  love  was  made  evident  to  the  Israelites.  God's 
omnipotence  was  displayed,  and  yet  as  far  as  men  were 
concerned  it  was  made  dependent  upon  the  choice  of  a 
human  being.  Released  from  bondage,  Israel  passed  through 
a  long  struggle  in  an  enemy's  country,  undergoing  a  process 
of  discipline  and  trial  resulting  in  the  death  of  an  entire 
generation,  ere  the  nation  entered  upon  the  promised  land. 

Although  enjoying  the  Divine  favor  to  a  degree  beyond 
any  other  nation  of  the  earth,  the  history  of  Israel  is  marked 
by  periods  of  discipline  involving  great  and  long-continued 
suffering, — a  process  which  resulted,  for  a  time  at  least,  in 
purification  from  grievous  sin  into  which  the  people  had 
fallen,  and  a  means  by  which  they  were  more  fully  pre- 
pared for  their  predicted  mission  of  blessing  to  the  world. 
At  this  point  may  be  marked  the  great  difference  between 
the  Lord's  dealing  with  Israel  and  other  nations.  Other 
nations  have  rebelled  or  by  perverseness  stood  in  the  Avay 
of  the  progress  of  the  Divine  plan,  and  they  have  been 
swept  from  the  earth,  for  judgments  on  nations  must  be 
executed  in  time.  Israel,  under  greater  light  and  under 
more  favorable  circumstances,  had  frequently  been  guilty 
of  flagrant  rebellion  ;  but  the  infinite  love  of  a  Father 
made  the  evils  wdiich  came  upon  the  nation  a  severe  chas- 
tisement working  out  a  positive  good. 

Just  as  Ave  may  in  their  past  history  trace  the  process  by 
which  God's  declared  purposes  of  making  them  His  earthly 


SUFFERING.  253 

portion  and  heritage,  and  their  settlement  in  the  j^romised 
land  were  accomplished,  so  may  we  trace  in  prophecy,  con- 
nected with  the  facts  of  their  national  life,  God's  ulterior 
purpose  of  making  the  Jews  a  blessing  to  the  earth  in  the 
latter  days, — a  blessing  in  a  high  and  spiritual  sense,  as  it 
was  clearly  foretold  in  the  Old  Testament.  But  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  in  its  broadest 
sense,  is  yet  in  reserve.  Israel  is  now  passing  tlirough  a 
long-extended  period  of  suiFering,  which,  bitter  and  con- 
tinued as  it  is,  would  seem  to  be  but  a  prelude  to  that 
sharj),  intense  trial  by  fire  through  which  they  must  pass, 
and  from  which  but  a  remnant  will  emerge, — a  remnant 
purged  and  purified,  prepared  not  only  to  acknowledge  the 
Lord  as  their  God,  but  to  appreciate  and  fully  enjoy  that 
Kingdom  of  God  upon  the  earth  which,  but  for  their  apos- 
tasy, might  have  been  their  portion  when  the  Messiah 
appeared.  This  refining  process  by  intense  suffering  is 
explicitly  stated  in  the  following  passages,  with  their  con- 
texts and  parallels, — viz.:  Isaiah  xxiv.  15;  xxvi.  8  and  9; 
ix.  8  and  9;  ix.  14  and  15;  xxx.  11  and  24;  xxxi.  2; 
xxxiii.  14;  xxxiv.  8;  xlix.  3;  Ivii.  16  to  18;  Mai.  iii.  2 
and  3 ;  Zech.  xiii.  7-9.  It  will  be  evident  from  these  that 
judgments  and  suffering  must  precede  the  attainment  of  the 
promised  glory  by  the  chosen  people. 

Every  principle  of  Divine  Government  relating  to  men 
is  of  universal  application.  The  operations  and  results  of 
law  are  simply  God's  manifestations  of  Himself  to  men. 
They  are  inexorable,  and  cannot  be  evaded  by  human  wis- 
dom or  power.  Although  the  revelation  of  Himself  in 
Jesus  Christ  and  the  proclamation  of  salvation  by  Grace 
were  a  new  development  of  the  love  of  God,  a  simpler  and 
more  effective  method  of  bringing  men  into  union  with  the 
Divine  nature,  yet  the  process  in   no  wise  involved   the 

17 


254  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

elimination  of  suffering  as  one  of  the  chief  elements  of 
discipline  and  purification. 

The  inherent  depravity  of  the  human  heart,  the  pride  of 
the  human  will,  and  the  love  of  that  which  is  contrary  to 
holiness,  must  be  eradicated  ere  the  Holy  Spirit  can  im- 
plant the  positive  seeds  of  righteousness,  or  enter  into  and 
fully  possess  the  soul  with  the  feeling  of  absolute  and  un- 
*conditional  submission  to  the  will  of  God.  Any  idea  of  a 
Christian  life  separate  and  apart  from  suffering  is  contrary 
not  only  to  the  individual  experience  of  the  Apostles,  but 
to  the  plain  declarations  of  Christ,  while  it  includes  the 
seeds  of  peace  and  joy,  and  carries  within  itself  the  elements 
of  highest  and  purest  satisfaction,  the  rich  fruits  of  which 
are  brought  to  maturity  only  by  a  course  of  tribulation 
exercising  every  part  of  human  nature,  body,  mind,  and 
soul.  Were  it  possible,  would  any  Christian  ask  to  be 
delivered  from  that  which,  however  painful  in  itself,  will 
make  him  meet  for  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  Lord  ?  or 
ask  to  pass  through  this  life,  which  in  fact  is  nothing  but  a 
preparation  for  eternity,  without  being  subjected  to  the 
discipline  that  will  purge  his  soul  from  the  love  of  sin,  so 
closely  connected  w^ith  the  flesh,  which,  continuing  to  bear 
sway,  would  separate  from  the  love  of  Christ  ? 

As  suffering  is  a  natural  consequence  of  sin,  a  result  in- 
evitably following  a  cause,  an  evil  flowing  from  a  voluntary 
departure  from  God,  it  cannot  therefore  come  from  any 
arbitrary  will  of  God,  l)ut  is  in  His  loving  hands  a  means 
by  which  we  are  brought  back  to  the  bosom  of  His  love 
and  favor.  It  is  insanity  to  refuse  it,  ingratitude  to  reject 
such  a  manifestation  of  love.  Let  us  rather  rejoice  that 
the  Heavenly  Father,  far  from  willingly  afflicting  the  chil- 
dren of  men,  has  provided  and  clearly  opened  the  way  by 
which  the  very  fall  of  man  into  sin  and  woe  has  been  made 


SUFFERING.  255 

the  sanctified  means  of  leading  liini  into  eternal  life  and 
glory. 

AVe  have  no  donbt  that  the  most  godly  saints  in  heaven 
are  those  whose  snfferings  on  earth  increased  in  the  same 
ratio  as  their  faith,  and  whose  graces  were  developed  in 
the  furnace  of  affliction.  It  is  a  mistaken  impression  that 
a  life  of  faith  is  one  of  comfort  in  a  carnal  sense;  that  it 
is  to  be  honored  in  the  Church  and  applauded  by  the  world  ; 
that  its  possessor  is  to  be  blessed  in  earthly  riches,  and 
that  his  children,  following  in  the  same  path,  are  to  be  par- 
takers of  similar  blessings.  This  temporal  good,  which 
may  at  times  be  the  })()rtion  of  God's  children,  is  profitable 
when  sanctioned  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  is  at  the  same 
time  a  strong  temptation  to  feelings  of  self-complacency 
and  self-satisfaction  which  are  not  conducive  to  humility 
or  edification  of  the  soul.  The  very  reception  of  these 
benefits  lays  u})on  the  subject  a  burden  of  res[)onsibility 
heavy  to  bear. 

In  addition  to  the  never-ceasing  conflict  going  on  in  the 
heart,  many  a  godly  saint  has  an  ever-present  cause  of  ])aiu 
and  sorrow  in  the  contemplation  of  humanity  suffering 
under  the  evil  of  sin, — of  the  Church  apparently  given  up 
to  worldliness  and  living  so  far  below  its  high  vocation, — 
a  pain  the  more  intense  because  it  is  pent  u])  in  his  own 
breast  and  cannot  be  shared  by  those  about  him,  who  think 
they  can  see  a  bright  future  in  store  for  the  world  before 
the  appearing  of  the  Lord,  and  the  times  of  trouble  that 
are  to  come  upon  the  earth.  Such  an  one,  by  his  belief  in 
what  he  reads  so  clearly  in  Scripture,  sees  the  dark  cloud 
impending  not  over  the  world,  but  over  the  visible  organiza- 
tion, which  is  too  often  regarded  as  the  Church  of  the  Liv- 
ing God.  He  is  in  a  great  degree  separated  from  those 
who  profess  to  be  the  followers  of  the  Master,  but  who 


256  THINGS   OF   THE   KINGDOM. 

care  not  for  His  blessed  appearing,  and  regard  those  who 
hope  and  long  for  it  as  the  victims  of  some  strange  halluci- 
nation. It  is  an  unspeakable  pain  to  him  to  have  that 
"hope"  which  is  so  prominently  held  up  to  believers,  treated 
as  a  thing  of  little  worth, — a  mystical  or  fanatical  idea, 
havincr  no  relation  to  the  Christian  life  or  to  the  glory  of 
his  I^ord  and  Master. 

*  There  are  certain  principles  of  action  applicable  to  suf- 
fering. To  avoid  suffering  at  the  sacrifice  of  obedience 
and  a  conviction  of  duty  is  as  absurd  as  to  refuse  to  sub- 
mit to  an  amputation  of  a  limb  that  the  life  may  be 
saved.  Any  effort  to  avoid  suffering  which  is  plainly  in 
the  way  of  duty,  is  indirectly  to  place  your  human  will  in 
opposition  to  God's  revealed  will.  It  is  duty  to  avoid 
sufferino-  ^vhen  such  a  course  will  not  come  in  conflict  with 
any  known  duty.  To  court,  or  to  heedlessly  run  into  suf- 
fering, is  an  impulse  of  the  flesh  savoring  of  self-glorifica- 
tion and  self-righteousness.  To  experience  suffering  for 
your  neighbor's  sake  is  noble ;  but  it  may  be  prompted  by 
mere  human  sympathy  and  not  by  Grace.  To  court  suffer- 
ing to  prove  your  love  for  Christ  may  be  only  a  desire  for 
merit.  To  welcome  and  patiently  bear  suffering  by,  and 
when  in  obedience,  is  from  Grace  in  the  heart,— a  high  and 
holy  privilege  by  which  the  purity  of  faith  may  be  tested 
and  an  opportunity  given  of  rejoicing  in  the  Lord. 

While  the  infirmities  of  our  physical  nature  cause  us  to 
involuntarily  shrink  from  approaching  suffering,  yet  Grace 
is  promised  by  which  the  corrupt  nature  may  be  controlled 
and  brought  into  subjection  to  the  Divine  will.  The 
blessed  consciousness  and  sure  conviction  that  the  sudden 
withdrawal  of  earthly  good,  the  powerful  temptations  of 
the  world,  the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil  one,  and  all  the  other 
multiplied   trials  which  are  so  often  the  portion  of  the 


SUFFERING.  257 

Christian  in  tliis  world, — the  secondary  means  by  which 
the  soul  may  be  prepared  for  glory, — spring  only  from  the 
seeds  of  Grace  planted  long  before  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
developed  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  by  the  Divine  in- 
fluence. Without  this  inwrought  conviction  and  assurance, 
trials  may  harden  rather  than  melt  the  heart.  The  faith 
which  will  sustain  in  suffering,  and  enable  the  soul  to 
regard  it  as  an  evidence  of  love,  is  not  the  faith  that  can 
be  taken  up  into  exercise  or  laid  down  in  quiet  rest  by  an 
arbitrary  choice  of  the  will.  To  be  eifective  it  must  be 
an  ever-present  abiding  principle,  an  active  controlling 
power  in  the  life.  That  soul  only  is  ready  for  the  death 
which  separates  it  from  the  body,  when  it  has  been  pre- 
viously prepared  for  a  holy  life  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

There  can  be  no  condition  of  human  life  so  painful  that 
consolation  cannot  be  drawn  from  the  facts,  that  Christ  by 
His  sufferings  and  death  has  forever  delivered  His  brethren 
from  the  bondage  of  sin,  Satan,  and  the  law, — that  by  those 
sufferings  Christ  hath  gained  for  us  all  temporal  and  spirit- 
ual blessings  that  may  be  needful  for  us  in  this  life,  Avith  a 
clear  title  to  all  that  the  Father  hath  in  reserve  for  them 
that  love  Him, — that  in  the  suffering,  we  are  the  com- 
panions of  Him  who  hath  trodden  the  same  path  and  of 
whose  glory  we  shall  be  partakers. 

In  looking  closely  and  critically  over  his  past  life,  we 
suppose  there  is  no  Christian  who  will  not  acknowledge 
to  himself,  if  not  to  others,  that  many  of  the  so-called 
troubles  of  his  course  have  been  in  some  degree  the  results 
of  his  own  acts;  or,  if  they  have  not  been  thus  positively 
produced,  have  been  the  correctives  of  some  course  of  action 
which,  persistently  followed,  might  have  resulted  in  ruin. 
In  the  light  of  after-events  he  can  see  that  pride,  covetous- 


258  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

ness,  ambition,  or  love  of  the  world  had  darkened  his  faith, 
drawn  off  his  affections  from  Christ,  and  brought  him  into 
a  state  of  careless  indifference  fatal  to  piety,  from  which 
he  was  awakened  only  by  some  sharp,  sudden  affliction, 
causing  the  more  intense  pain  because  the  soul  had  been 
living  in  a  temporary  separation  from  its  source  of  life  and 
p^ace,  and  had  thus  been  cut  off  from  the  channel  through 
which  alone  a  true  child  of  God  could  gain  consolation. 
Tlien  he  realized,  perhaps  as  never  before,  his  own  weak- 
ness when  not  living  in  close  union  with  God,  and  could 
see  how  he  had  been  led  through  thorny  paths  of  suffering 
until  he  reached  a  steadfast  dependence  on  Christ.  He 
can  trace  the  method  of  suffering  which  mercifully  pre- 
served him  from  that  which  would  have  wrecked  his  hopes 
and  left  him  to  despair.  The  result  of  such  a  retrospect 
ought  to  be  a  feeling  of  calm  assurance  that  God's  way  of 
leading  the  soul  is  the  best  way,  however  dark  it  may 
appear  at  the  time. 

In  the  Divine  order  of  man's  life,  the  saint  must  pass 
through  three  stages  before  he  enters  upon  the  high  glory 
which  is  to  be  his  eternal  portion.  In  each  he  is  subject  to 
the  same  law  of  suffering,  and  cannot  escape  from  it  until 
he  is  taken  home.  Born  of  the  earth,  he  is  earthy.  Born 
of  the  Spirit  and  thus  made  a  subject  of  Grace,  he  is  purged, 
purified,  and  educated, — is  being  prepared  for  his  eternal 
glory.  Heavenly  and  earthly  elements  are  conflicting  within 
his  soul.  But  the  time  comes  when  the  process,  as  far  as 
earth  is  concerned,  is  completed ;  when  the  love  of  sin  is 
eradicated;  when  the  affections  are  fixed  on  Christ,  and 
the  desires  placed  on  His  glory ;  when  the  will  is  brought 
into  sweet  conformity  to  the  Divine  will.  Then  the  conflict 
is  over,  for  Heaven  has  entered  into  the  soul,  and  it  is 
heavenly,  perfected,  waiting  for  an  abundant  entrance  to 


SUFFERING.  259 

the  glory  of  the  Lord.  By  his  own  loving  and  volnn- 
tary  consent,  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  his  body  a  temple 
and  dwelling-place,  so  that  his  wliole  nature  lias  been 
transformed  into  the  moral  image  of  Christ, — not  by  any 
act  of  the  will ;  not  by  any  human  effort ;  not  by  striving 
for  any  particular  point  or  object  in  the  future ;  not  by 
vain  and  useless  strugglings  to  attain  to  any  imaginary 
state  or  condition.  It  is  by  the  simple  yielding  of  the 
whole  nature  to  the  influence  and  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  by  steadfast  reliance  on  the  Divine  promises,  and  by 
absolute  confidence  in  the  eternal  and  infinite  love  of  God 
so  fully  manifested  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  earthly  trials 
which  often  press  thickly  about  his  course,  are  not  borne  in 
any  stoical  spirit,  but  are  regarded — as  what  in  truth  they 
are — as  the  instruments  in  a  Father's  hands  of  accomplish- 
ing a  purpose  of  love.  He  finds  a  solace  in  the  faith,  that 
patient  endurance  of  suffering  is  not  only  a  purifying  pro- 
cess resultino;  in  increased  fruitfulness  in  the  earthlv  life, 
but  that  by  constantly  expanding  his  Christian  experience 
it  makes  him  more  capable  of  appreciating  Infinite  love, 
prepares  him  for  more  rapid  advance  and  higher  service  in 
the  future  life.  Such  a  soul  has  reached  a  very  high  point 
in  Christian  experience  when  it  can  truly  say  with  St.  Paul, 
"  I  am  crucified  with  Christ,  nevertheless  I  live ;  yet  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  Then  is  such  a  one,  although 
bereft  of  all  that  might  seem  to  yield  comfort  in  an  earthly 
sense,  and  filled  with  all  that  is  an  intolerable  burden  to 
mere  flesh  and  blood,  manifesting  in  a  spirit  of  self- 
renunciation,  the  fruits  of  Divine  holiness  implanted  and 
cherished  in  the  heart  by  God's  grace  and  love. 

While  it  is  true  that  suffering  docs  come  u})on  the  chil- 
dren of  God  in  consequence  of  sin, — or,  to  speak  more  accu- 
rately, that  Christians  by  departures  from  obedience  and 


260  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

by  actual  violations  of  God's  law  do  bring  upon  themselves 
the  evils  which  are  inseparably  connected  with  sin,  and  are 
thus  made  subjects  of  suffering  which  as  moral  free  agents 
they  might  have  avoided, — yet  it  is  a  blessed  truth  that 
tliere  often  lies  in  the  earthly  pathway  of  some  favored  souls 
a  burden  of  suffering,  which  is  a  peculiar  glory  and  honor, 
for  it  is  a  portion  of  that  bitter  cup  which  the  Master  did 
5ot  refuse  to  drink.  It  may  be  that  these  highly- favored 
souls  are  not  conscious  of  the  dignity  which  the  Heavenly 
Father  hath  bestowed  upon  them,  for  it  has  been  their 
highest  happiness  to  yield  lovingly  to  the  Divine  will  as  it 
was  revealed  to  them  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  accept 
gladly  as  the  best  way,  the  way  in  which  God  led  them. 
But  when,  in  the  light  of  eternity,  the  things  of  earth  and 
time  shall  assume  their  proper  proportion,  it  will  be  made 
evident  that  these  are  they  who  have  been  baptized  with 
Christ,  and  have  been  partakers  with  Him  of  that  very 
cup  from  which  His  human  nature  shrank  in  the  Garden ; 
then,  and  perhaps  not  until  then,  will  be  apparent  the 
blessedness  of  those  whom  God  hath  chosen  to  be  partici- 
pants in  the  suffering  of  His  Son. 


CRIMINALS  AND  PRISON  REFORM. 

Among  the  many  objects  claiming  the  attention  of  the 
Christian  and  philantliropist,  none  are  assuming  greater 
importance  than  efforts  to  repress  crime  and  to  reform  the 
criminal.  Aside  from  the  love  for  men  as  immortal  beings, 
which  is  the  moving  impulse  in  a  Christian  heart,  motives 
of  self-preservation  should  press  the  subject  home  on  every 
citizen.  Indifference  and  carelessness  on  the  j)art  of  those 
whom  Providence  has  favored  with  an  abundance  of  worldly 
goods,  will  be  followed  by  evils  wliich  prompt  and  decided 
action  might  have  prevented  or  at  least  greatly  mitigated. 
The  vast  and  constantly-increasing  army  of  criminals  is  not 
only  making  taxation  more  burdensome,  but  rendering  life 
and  property  more  insecure.  Too  often  the  very  methods 
by  which  society  punishes  offences,  become  the  means  of 
preparing  the  offenders  for  other  and  more  serious  crimes. 
While  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  society  must  inflict  sum- 
mary punishment  on  offenders,  yet  that  right  and  power 
involve  a  responsibility  which  does  not  end  when  tlie  trans- 
gressor is  securely  confined  within  stone  walls  and  iron  bars. 
If,  when  his  term  of  confinement  has  expired,  the  convict 
comes  out  more  hardened  and  desperate  than  when  he  went 
in,  society  has  gained  nothing  but  a  brief  immunity  from 
violence.  If,  during  his  imprisonment,  he  has  not  been 
subjected  to  moral  influences  and  industrial  training  which 
would  awaken  and  cherish  some  princii)les  of  solf-respect 
and  right  action,  as  well  as  habits  of  labor,  placing  it  within 

2G1 


262  THINGS   OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

his  power  to  earn  a  subsistence,  then  his  imprisonment  has, 
indirectly  if  not  positively,  been  a  failure  both  to  convict 
and  society.  There  are  no  sadder  or  more  hopeless  persons 
in  the  world  than  many  released  convicts  as  they  leave  the 
prison-door.  Shunned  by  those  who  have  a  knowledge  of 
his  crime,  regarded  with  indifference  by  all  others,  penni- 
less and  therefore  unable  to  reach  a  place  where  a  fresh 
■fetart  may  be  made,  the  stigma  of  prison  utterly  shutting 
out  hope  of  employment,  the  former  convict  feels  that  he 
must  starve,  or  enter  at  once  upon  some  new  course  of  crime. 
Almost  by  necessity  he  begins  again  to  prey  upon  society. 
These  men  are  our  brethren,  having  a  claim  upon  our  sym- 
pathy and  substantial  assistance.  If  for  no  higher  reason 
than  the  promotion  of  our  own  peace  and  safety,  assistance 
should  be  freely  granted  to  them.  While  some  of  them  are 
the  children  of  worthy  parents  whose  counsels  have  been 
disregarded,  the  majority  have  not  had  the  advantages  of 
education,  good  example,  or  moral  influence,  so  that  their 
lives  have  been  the  unrestrained  development  of  a  depraved 
human  nature.  But  if  we,  by  the  mercy  and  restraining 
grace  of  God,  have  been  preserved  from  the  contamination 
of  the  same  moral  diseases,  the  fact  places  us  under  a  solemn 
obligation  to  exercise  Christian  benevolence  and  sympathy 
towards  those  whose  different  circumstances  have  made  it 
so  much  easier  to  fall  into  crime,  and  incites  us  to  put  forth 
active  efforts  to  rescue  them  from  degradation.  It  is  a 
sphere  of  Christian  effort  which  must  necessarily  be  attended 
with  comparatively  small  results  and  with  much  discourage- 
ment from  repeated  failures ;  but  surely  it  is  a  labor  of  love 
for  which  there  is  Divine  warrant  and  promise  of  sustaining 
grace. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  are  peculiar  diffi- 
culties surrounding  effort  in  this  direction,  from  the  fact 


CRIMINALS  AND   PRISON  REFORM.  263 

that  there  are  no  institutions  under  the  control  of  the  State 
where  convicts  after  serving  a  term,  or  a  j)art  of  a  term  of 
imprisonment,  may  for  a  time  be  legally  placed  under  a 
system  of  training,  where  they  may,  by  moral  influences, 
be  prepared  to  re-enter  the  world,  free  from  those  tendencies 
and  circumstances  which  so  almost  irresistibly  drive  them 
to  the  course  of  life  which  so  many  of  them  dread  and,  if 
possible,  would  escape  from.  Such  an  intermediate  home 
would,  perhaps,  have  to  be  established  by  individual  action 
and  subscription, — the  State  only  providing  by  legislative 
enactment,  for  the  legal  detention  for  a  time  of  those  who 
had  been  convicted  of  crime,  thus  j)lacing  them  under  a 
modified  restraint  for  their  own  moral  benefit.  It  is  rather 
anomalous  that  in  a  Republican  government,  all  needful 
measures  may  be  taken  for  the  prevention  of  physical  dis- 
ease, but  any  legal  course  for  the  prevention  of  moral  evil 
and  crime  against  society,  is  opposed  on  the  ground  of  a 
tendency  to  union  of  Church  and  State.  There  are  also  dan- 
gers that  false  and  spurious  humanitarian  feelings  may 
place  the  criminal  in  the  position  of  a  martyr — a  victim  of 
circumstances — to  a  great  extent  not  res})onsible  for  the 
evil  he  causes  or  falls  into.  Reformers  of  this  class  are 
not  true  friends  of  either  the  community  or  the  prisoner, 
for  they  incline  to  measures  that  would  rob  Justice  of  her 
due  and  take  the  sting  from  the  penalty  of  the  law.  In 
most  cases  the  prisoner  is  suffering  justly  for  breach  of  law, 
and  it  would  be  wrong  to  endeavor  to  relieve  him  of  the 
penalty  which  he  has  drawn  upon  himself,  but  at  the  same 
time  the  worst  criminal  is  one  that  may  be  reformed  by  the 
application  of  moral  means.  The  only  system  that  will  be 
of  real  advantao-e  to  society  and  the  reformation  of  the 
criminal,  must  be  pervaded  by  Gospel  principles,  with  truth 
and  love  as  weapons.     The  offender  nuist  be  regarded  as  a 


264  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

rational,  immortal  being,  capable  of  appreciating  and  re- 
ceiving the  love  of  Christ.  The  fact  that  he  is  susceptible 
of  transformation  from  the  position  of  a  law-breaker  into 
that  of  a  law-abiding,  peaceful  citizen,  must  never  be 
weakened  in  the  breast  of  any  who  would  be  the  friend  of 
the  prisoner.  Kindness  and  love  are  the  only  effective 
means.  Let  the  worst  man  only  be  assured  that  you  are 
•his  sincere  friend,  laboring  for  his  good  without  any  ulte- 
rior or  selfish  motive,  and  you  gain  a  firm  hold  upon  his 
heart. 

The  Gospel  and  the  principles  of  sound  philosophy 
teach  that,  while  yoii  are  following  the  right  impulses  of 
the  heart  in  striving  to  promote  the  present  and  eternal 
happiness  of  all  to  whom  your  influence  may  extend,  you 
are  taking  the  only  effectual  course  to  secure  your  own 
present  and  ultimate  happiness,  and  thus  indirectly,  and 
Avithout  any  selfish  design,  attaining  the  true  end  of  life. 
The  resulting  happiness  is  the  consequence,  not  the  object. 
Ko  man  has  found,  or  ever  will  find,  true  happiness  when 
it  is  made  the  object  of  his  search.  The  state  of  heart 
which  produces  it  results  from  faith  in  and  reliance  upon 
the  Almighty.  Man  is  not  of  himself,  and  cannot  be  for 
himself,  but  was  placed  upon  earth  for  the  glory  of  his 
Creator  and  the  good  of  the  universe.  If  a  man's  plans 
are  made  with  reference  only  to  material  wealth  and  the 
pleasures  derived  therefrom,  he  will  discover — too  late,  per- 
haps, to  remedy  the  evil — that  he  has  mistaken  the  intent  of 
life,  and  has  utterly  failed  to  gain  its  realities.  The  true 
end  of  life  can  be  found  only  in  the  path  of  wisdom.  All 
designs  for  temporal  good  are  proper  and  legitimate  when 
they  are  made  tributary  to  the  proper  primary  design,  and 
when  they  include  a  purpose  of  good  to  all  men.  Wealth, 
honor,  and  pleasure,  the  objects  of  devotion  in  the  attain- 


CRIMINALS  AND   PRISON  REFORM.  265 

merit  of  which  of  all  laws,  except  those  of  policy,  have 
been  trampled  on,  will  not  only  fail  to  yield  the  desired 
satisfaction  to  those  who  seek  them,  but  become  sources  of 
evil  to  society  by  the  very  process  by  which  they  are  gained. 
Wealth,  honor,  or  position  gained  by  a  strict  adherence  to 
the  laws  of  eternal  wisdom  will  not  injure  the  possessor  or 
any  who  may  be  his  neighbors.  In  a  word,  when  a  large 
part  of  any  community  is  busily  engaged  in  the  prosecution 
of  purely  selfish  purposes,  regardless  of  the  best  interests  of 
those  who  may  be  below  them  in  intelligence  and  morality, 
careless  of  any  means  for  the  prevention  of  evil,  that  por- 
tion of  the  community  is  really  preparing  the  crime  which 
the  individual  will  commit.  Their  failure  to  properly 
meet  the  responsibility  resting  upon  them  as  component 
parts  of  the  state,  whose  individual  interests  are  identified 
with  and  affected  by  the  welfare  of  all  others,  must  suffer 
the  consequences  arising  from  the  presence  of  a  constantly 
increasing  army  of  criminals.  In  this  sense  it  is  true 
"  that  no  man  liveth  unto  himself,'^  for  if  he  fails  to  meet 
the  obligation  resting  upon  him  he  must  meet  the  evil. 
As  the  moral  sense  and  moral  activity  of  the  community 
is  only  the  aggregated  moral  sense  and  activity  of  its  in- 
dividual members,  each  individual  in  the  community  must 
bear  his  proportion  of  the  responsibility ;  and  that  respon- 
sibility will  be  just  in  proportion  to  the  education,  talent, 
or  wealth  of  which  he  may  be  the  possessor. 

Those  who  have  made  the  growth  and  repression  of  crime 
and  pauperism  a  study,  have  marked  the  fact  that  both  evils 
have  increased  in  times  of  unusual  worldly  prosperity. 
With  increasing  wealth  come  corresponding  pride  and 
indifference  to  those  about  us.  The  lines  of  separation 
between  the  richer  and  poorer  classes  become  more  strongly 
marked.     Wealth  assumes  still  greater  importance  to  the 


266  2'HIXGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

minds  of  all.  Many  are  tempted  to  attain  it  by  some  other 
methods  than  those  of  industry  and  economy,  and  unsus- 
tained  by  moral  principle  are  led  on  to  a  course  ending  in 
forgery,  embezzlement,  or  kindred  crime.  In  a  small  com- 
munity \vhere  good  order  and  morality  prevail,  and  where 
there  is  but  a  shade  of  difference  in  the  social  position  of 
those  who  compose  it,  there  will  be  found  but  little  poverty, 
•  and  but  seldom  any  outbreaking  crime,  because  there  is  in 
the  breast  of  each  a  benevolent  and  sympathetic  feeling  for 
the  best  interest  of  the  whole.  If  one  suffers  by  loss  or 
affliction,  all  suffer  with  him,  for  all  are  mutual  helpers  of 
each  other's  good.  If  one  member  of  such  a  community 
suddenly  acquires  great  wealth,  and  for  that  reason  imagines 
he  is  a  better  man  by  reason  of  its  possession,  or  entitled  to 
more  respect  and  deference  than  before,  he  places  a  false 
estimate  on  the  value  of  material  objects,  and  is  taking  the 
first  step  that  will  certainly  cut  off  the  sympathy  and  con- 
fidence which  had  existed  between  himself  and  those  whom 
he  now  considers  below  him  in  social  rank.  As  he  rises  in 
this  false  position,  he  either  despises  or  becomes  indifferent 
to  those  with  whom  his  social  interests  were  once  so  haj^pily 
identified,  and  gradually,  but  surely,  feelings  of  envy,  dis- 
content, and  open  antagonism  displace  the  love  and  sym- 
pathy which  formerly  bouud  them  closely  together.  Let 
these  cases  be  multiplied,  and  such  a  community  will  pre- 
sent a  miniature  picture  of  the  process  which  seems  to  be 
going  on  in  all  parts  of  our  country, — a  process  which  is 
gradually  loosening  the  foundations  of  the  whole  fabric, 
generating  antagonistic  feelings  between  the  richer  and  the 
poorer  classes  which  must  in  the  end  be  fatal  to  the  best 
interests  of  all.  The  rich  men  becoming  richer,  the  poor 
becoming  poorer,  the  aggregation  of  capital,  and  often  the 
oppressive  measures  which  unscrupulous  capitalists  can  eu- 


CRIMINALS  AND   PRISON  REFORM.  2G7 

force,  making  it  more  and  more  difficult  for  tlic  laboring- 
man  to  gain  an  honest  subsistence,  and  thus  producing  the 
almost  inevitable  conflict  between  capital  and  labor,  are 
bringing  about  a  condition  of  society  that  will  be  most 
prolific  in  pauperism  and  crime.  If  the  strong,  the  edu- 
cated, and  wealthy  part  of  the  community  will  not  learn 
by  experience  and  observation,  that  one  who  resolves  to 
injure  another  by  that  very  act  injures  himself,  and  that  if 
they  do  not  in  all  things  regard  the  moral  as  well  as  the 
temporal  interests  of  the  poor,  the  weak,  and  the  ignorant, 
they  are  forging  chains  which  will  bind  on  them  and  on 
their  children  a  most  intolerable  burden,  and  introduce  a 
turbulent  element  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  tlie  full  devel- 
opment of  which  may  sweep  away  their  earthly  wealth  and 
be  attended  by  acts  of  murder  and  rapine  before  which  even 
the  horrors  of  the  French  Revolution  may  seem  insignifi- 
cant. While  unwise  or  evil  acts  of  government  may  be  the 
cause  of  crime  in  the  older  and  more  complex  civilizations 
of  Europe,  the  most  prolific  source  of  crime  in  this  country  is 
the  selfishness  of  the  individual,  the  unjust  combination  of 
capital,  and  the  growing  and  all-prevalent  indifference  to 
the  public  good.  The  wisest  statesmen  of  England  are 
alarmed  at  the  heavy  burdens  of  crime  and  pauperism  now 
pressing  on  that  country.  The  soil  and  territory  of  Eng- 
land being  limited,  the  crisis  there  may  be  reached  within 
the  present  century.  The  vast  unoccupied  territory  of 
America,  affording  an  outlet  for  those  in  some  ])arts  of 
our  land  where  the  pressure  has  become  intolerable,  acts  as 
a  safety-valve,  and  may  postpone  for  a  time  the  culmination 
of  the  evils  which  are  now  so  evident  to  the  observing  eye. 
But  as  surely  as  God  has  ordained  and  made  known  to 
men  good  and  perfect  laws,  unalterable  and  inexorable  in 
operation  and  penalty,  just  so  surely  will  a  breach  of  these 


268  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

laws,  or  a  failure  to  come  up  to  their  requirements,  work 
out  their  own  disastrous  results  and  produce  confusion  in  the 
social  economy.  Any  one  who  has  read  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment the  denunciations  there  written  against  the  ancient 
nations,  and  has  followed  the  course  of  history,  has  wit- 
nessed the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies.  The  same  laws 
still  operate,  and  the  same  penalties  are  attached  to  them. 
•The  oppression  of  the  weak,  the  neglecting  of  duty  to  the 
poor  and  ignorant,  are  everywhere  mentioned  as  causes  of 
severe  denunciation ;  as  an  example,  read  eighth  chapter  of 
Amos.  AVisdom  and  prudence  would  suggest  that  the 
most  effectual  method  to  overcome  a  p^rowino;  evil  would  be 
the  destruction  of  its  cause.  Seal  the  fountain  and  the 
stream  will  soon  cease  to  flow ;  kill  the  root  and  there  will 
be  no  more  fruit  or  seed.  All  Avill  airree  that  the  most 
effectual  measures  which  can  be  adopted  to  check  crime  are 
those  of  a  preventive  character, — taking  hold  of  the  young. 
But  the  question  now  pressing  for  an  answer  is,  How  can 
the  criminal  of  adult  age  be  transformed  into  an  honest, 
self-supporting  member  of  society  ?  In  the  answer  to  this 
important  question,  leaving  out  of  view  all  the  influences 
that  might  or  should  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
criminal  in  childhood  and  youth,  accepting  the  facts  that 
the  various  complex  bearings  of  our  civilization  and  the 
indifference  of  society  to  the  interests  of  those  who  compose 
it,  have  both  indirectly  and  positively  fostered  the  develop- 
ment of  open  crime,  we  cannot  forget  that  the  army  of 
criminals  is  being  daily  recruited  by  the  men  and  women 
who  are  convicted  in  our  courts  and  sentenced  to  periods  of 
imprisonment  which  place  them,  for  the  time  at  least,  in  a 
position  where  good  influences  may  be  exerted, — influences 
the  more  potent  because  the  subjects  are  removed  from  the 
temptations  to  crime  which  have  hitherto  been  so  powerful, 


CRIMINALS  AND   PRISON  REFORM.  269 

and  are  surrounded  by  the  circumstances  which  may  be 
made  favorable  to  the  development  of  all  that  is  good. 

Evil  and  wicked  as  these 'criminals  may  be,  ignorant  of 
all  but  that  by  which  they  may  accomplish  the  sinful  pur- 
poses of  their  depraved  hearts,  they  are  by  the  very  fact  of 
conviction  of  and  sentence  for  crime,  placed  under  the  care 
and  guardianship  of  the  community  against  Avhicli  they 
have  sinned.  What,  then,  shall  be  done  with  them? 
Lock  them  up  securely  for  two  or  three  years,  and  by  this 
locking  up  accomplish  two  good  ends, — protect  society  from 
depredation  and  make  the  criminal  feel  the  absolute  justice 
which  follows  an  outraged  law.  These  results  are  good  as 
far  as  they  go,  and  their  value  must  not  be  disregarded. 
Iron  bars  and  high  walls  have  protected  the  comnuuiity 
from  the  outbreakings  of  violence, — the  narrow  cell,  the 
scanty  fare,  the  deprivation  of  liberty,  and  the  constrained 
labor  ought  to  convince  the  prisoner  that  the  way  of  trans- 
gressors is  hard.  An  incidental  advantage  from  the  pun- 
ishment of  an  offender  lies  in  the  fact  that  imprisonment 
deters  others  from  evil-doing.  But,  granting  the  threeibld 
benefits  arising  from  the  punishment  of  an  offender  against 
good  and  wholesome  laws,  we  still  have  the  question  staring 
us  in  the  face,  "  What  shall  be  done  with  the  convict?"  If 
during  the  period  of  his  incarceration,  the  treatment  and 
discipline  to  which  he  has  been  subjected  have  been  such 
that  the  convict  leaves  the  prison  threshold  more  hardened 
than  when  he  came  in,  with  a  mind  more  fully  determined 
on  evil,  with  a  heart  inflamed  with  hatred  against  the  com- 
munity which  has  inflicted  a  just  punishment,  with  hands 
ready  to  commit  new  crimes,  with  a  conscience  seared  as 
with  a  hot  iron,  we  have  utterly  foiled  in  accomplishing 
that  which  should  be  the  essential  purpose  in  the  process  of 
punishment, — the  reformation  of  the  criminal, — and  have 

18 


270  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

by  the  imprisonment  added  an  element  to  the  increase  and 
development  of  crime. 

Experience  has  conclusively  proved,  that  merely  external 
appliances  have  but  little  effect  in  the  process  of  reforma- 
tion, and  that  the  duties  of  enforced  servitude  of  prison  life, 
however  faithfully  performed,  do  not  inculcate  habits  of 
industry  which  will  sway  the  conduct  when  the  outward 
pressure  is  removed.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  we  must 
look  for  something  better,  for  some  impulse  from  a  higher 
source,  for  some  principle  which,  implanted  in  the  heart, 
will  be  a  seed  producing  good  fruit,  an  element  of  continu- 
ous power  which  will  transform  the  heart,  mind,  and  life. 
The  root  and  spring  of  all  genuine  reformation,  be  its  place 
of  exercise  the  pleasant  home  or  the  criminal's  cell,  are  the 
consciousness  of  sin  and  the  apprehension  of  the  love  of 
God  as  manifested  in  Jesus  Christ, — a  consciousness  of 
individual  sin  which  convinces  the  subject  that  he  is  not, 
and  under  existing  circumstances  cannot  be,  a  subject  of 
Divine  favor,  and  at  the  same  time  an  apprehension  of 
the  infinite  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  assures  the  soul 
that  humble,  honest  confession  of  sin  insures  pardon  for 
past  oifences  and  gives  promise  of  grace  for  the  future. 
While  it  may  be  wisest  and  best  to  impress  upon  the  mind 
of  the  criminal  that  the  penalty  of  the  law  must  follow  its 
infraction,  and  to  make  clear  to  the  community  the  fact 
that  the  committing  of  crime  will  be  certainly  and  promptly 
followed  by  the  threatened  penalty,  yet,  if  the  criminal  and 
the  public  are  both  to  be  benefited  by  the  infliction  of  a 
penalty,  the  process  and  result  of  the  punishment  should  be 
of  such  a  character  that  the  subject  of  penalty  will  be  re- 
turned to  the  community,  after  its  infliction,  in  a  better 
condition,  physically,  mentally,  and  morally,  than  he  had 
been  when  he  entered  the  prison-door.     It  is  easy  to  thus 


CRIMINALS  AND   PRISON  REFORM.  271 

state  the  proposition,  the  truth  of  which  none  will  deny; 
but  the  practical  sohition  of  the  problem  demands  careful 
thought  and  persistent  labor  on  the  part  of  the  community 
by  which  and  whom,  for  its  own  protection,  some  of  its 
members  are  placed  within  prison-bars. 

It  is  evident  that  the  process  of  discipline  and  labor 
which  tends  to  reform  the  criminal  is  that  which  will  re- 
duce crime,  and  therefore  be  of  the  highest  good  to  the  com- 
munity. The  benefits  arising  from  any  system  producing 
such  results,  will  accrue  to  both  convict  and  community. 
If  accepted  by  both,  the  problem  would  be  easily  solved  ; 
if  the  parties  on  either  side  were  satisfied  that  tiie  arrange- 
ment would  be  of  mutual  benefit,  the  contract — if  a  term 
of  imprisonment  can  be  so  called — would  be  quickly  rati- 
fied. But  unfortunately  there  is  a  great  difference  of  senti- 
ment at  this  point.  The  convict  does  not,  and,  perhaps, 
will  not,  admit  that  his  actions  are  deserving  of  punish- 
ment, and,  consequently,  will  not  acknowledge  the  justice 
of  the  penalty  or  the  right  by  which  it  is  inflicted.  The 
community,  convinced  by  the  results  of  injury  they  have 
suffered  from  the  acts  of  the  convict,  that  breach  of  law 
should  be  followed  by  penalty,  cry  out  for  justice,  and, 
ordinarily,  are  satisfied  when  sentence  is  pronounced  and 
judgment  inflicted,  regardless  of  the  result  of  the  penalty. 
Now,  in  fact,  if  any  good  is  to  follow  the  infliction  of 
penalty, — any  permanent  results  to  be  made  evident  in 
the  avoidance  of  evil  and  the  following  of  good  on  the 
part  of  the  convict, — any  acceptance  of  the  fact  that  the 
penalty  has  been  inflicted  by  society,  and  acknowledgment 
of  the  obligations  thereby  incurred  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
munity,— such  good  fruits  must  come  from  the  united 
action  of  the  parties  concerned  ;  the  convict  and  the  com- 
munity must   be  of  one    mind,   must   work    together   in 


272  THINGS   OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

harmony.  In  truth,  there  must  be  mutual  confessions  of 
wrong-doing, — on  the  part  of  the  convict,  that  he  has 
been  guilty  of  breach  of  good  laws ;  on  the  part  of  the 
coaimunity,  that,  by  selfishness  and  by  indifference  to  those 
who  are  ignorant  and  weak,  it  had  presented  temptations 
to  the  very  crimes  it  is  now  punishing.  There  can  be  no 
true  reform  without  these  mutual  concessions,  expressed  or 
knplied.  The  first  step  in  the  process,  as  far  as  the  convict 
and  the  community  are  concerned,  is  the  removal  of  the 
antagonism  which,  unfortunately  for  both,  is  so  prevalent. 

The  community  must  take  the  first  step.  It  is  the 
stronger  party.  The  convict  is  comparatively  powerless 
when  he  becomes  its  prisoner.  It  has  all  the  power  spring- 
ing from  education,  wealth,  culture,  and  experience,  as  well 
as  the  absolute  control  of  legislative  enactments.  If,  with 
all  these  advantages,  the  community  cannot  devise  some 
system  of  punishment  of  crime  which  will  combine  the 
elements  of  retribution  for  breach  of  law,  and  the  inculca- 
tion of  some  principle  which  will  tend  to  deter  from  a 
breach  in  the  future,  we  must  reluctantly  confess  that  our 
boasted  civilization  is  not  competent  to  remedy  the  evils 
which  it  brings  in  its  train, — that  it  is,  in  spite  of  all  that 
may  be  claimed  for  it,  a  failure  when  it  comes  into  direct 
conflict  with  that  which  it  so  often  tends  to  nourish,  and 
which  is  so  detrimental  to  its  best  interests. 

Granting,  as  is  claimed  by  those  who  have  most  care- 
fully studied  the  matter  of  Prison  Reform,  that  the  pain 
of  imprisonment  proves  to  the  convict  that  the  loss  of 
crime  overbalances  its  gain,  that  such  imprisonment  de- 
ters others  from  the  commission  of  offences,  that  it  protects 
the  community  from  the  evils  of  crime  by  violently  re- 
straining those  who  would  commit  them,  and  that  by  im- 
prisonment the  desire  on  the  part  of  the  convict  of  com- 


CRIMINALS  AND   PRISON  REFORM.  21 Z 

mitting  crime  is  lessened  by  the  breaking  up  of  })rcviously 
formed  evil  habits,  aided  by  the  influence  which  steady 
labor  and  submission  to  wise  regulations  tends  to  induce, 
there  yet  remains  to  be  considered  a  principle  of  tremendous 
power,  without  the  presence  of  which  there  can  be  no  genuine 
reformation.  This  principle,  divested  of  all  that  may  be 
sectarian,  may  be  thus  stated,  in  its  tiireefold  aspect, — viz., 
a  consciousness  that  man  is  a  sinner, — in  a  position  where 
he  does  not  enjoy  the  favor  of  God, — a  consciousness  that 
God  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  has  manifested,  a  way 
of  escape  from  the  evil  of  sin,  and  a  consciousness  that 
by  faitli  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  individual  soul  may 
not  only  be  delivered  from  the  guilt  and  consequences  of 
past  sin,  but  may  receive  the  grace  by  which  it  may  be  enabled 
to  avoid  sin  in  the  future.  Any  genuine  reform  must  be 
preceded  by  a  consciousness  of  sin,  a  faith  in  a  way  of 
escape  from  its  evil,  and  an  acceptance  of  the  Divine 
power  which  alone  can  transform  the  heart  and  be  an 
ever-present  impulse  to  good. 

The  transcendent  power  of  the  Grace  of  God  to  renew  the 
vilest  heart  will  scarcely  be  denied.  AV^ithout  this  there  can 
be  no  hope  of  permanent  improvement  among  criminals; 
and  that  they  should  be  placed  under  the  influences,  con- 
stant and  unremittent,  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  seems  to  be 
the  duty  of  those  called  to  control  their  punishment. 

Into  this  wise  system  of  control  so  many  elements  enter, 
and  so  many  principles  of  apparently  conflicting  purposes 
seem  to  act,  that  their  reconcilement  and  harmonious  de- 
velopment make  penal  reform  one  of  the  most  difficult 
spheres  of  philanthropic  effort.  The  question  of  prison 
labor,  as  an  element  of  moral  reform,  as  well  as  a  matter 
affectins:  the  interests  of  the  community,  is  one  demand- 
ing  careful  consideration  by  those  who  are  placed  in  the 


274  THINGS  OF   THE  KINGDOM. 

position  of  managers  of  prisons.  It  may  seem  just  that 
society  should  demand  from  the  offender  an  equivalent  for 
the  loss  or  injury  sustained  by  those  who  have  suffered 
by  the  perpetration  of  crime,  and,  the  criminal,  having 
nothing  with  which  he  can  satisfy  this  demand,  society  has 
an  absolute  right  to  so  control  his  action  that  a  repetition 
of  the  same  or  a  similar  crime  may  be  prevented.  And 
jiist  here  come  in  the  questions.  Should  the  offender,  by 
reason  of  his  offence,  be  made  a  burden  on  those  whom  he 
has  injured?  should  the  process  of  punishment  be  such 
that  the  cost  involved  must  be  borne  by  those  who  have 
committed  no  crime?  While  it  may  not  yet  be  definitely 
determined  whether  it  is  best  for  the  interest  of  all  con- 
cerned that  the  labor  of  convicts  should  be  made  a  source 
of  income  to  the  State,  and  thus  indirectly  interfere,  it  may 
be,  with  some  form  of  labor  outside  prison-walls,  it  has 
usually  been  conceded  that  any  power  or  skill  which  the 
convict  possesses  may  be  properly  used  in  paying  for  the 
cost  of  his  own  maintenance  during  imprisonment.  Sim- 
ple equity  would  seem  to  prove  that  honest  labor  ought 
not  to  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  offenders.  But,  leaving 
out  of  view  the  many  difficulties  connected  with  prison 
labor  as  it  may  affect  outside  industry,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  the  fact  that  steady,  persistent  labor  is  a  most 
important  element  in  any  system  of  prison  reform, — that 
without  it  any  hope  of  reformation  by  imprisonment  is 
absurd.  Henry  Cordier,  Superintendent  of  the  Allegheny 
County,  Pa.,  Work-House,  in  his  report  for  1873,  makes 
the  following  statement  as  the  result  of  his  own  experience : 
"  The  inmates  of  our  penal  institutions  should  under  all 
circumstances  be  treated  with  kindness  and  humanity,  but 
there  is  no  reason  why  their  labor  should  not  be  controlled 
and  utih'zed  so  as  to  prevent  them  from  being  a  constant 


CRIMINALS  AND   PRISON  REFORM.  275 

and  heavy  burden  to  the  tax-payers.  Prisoners,  if  able- 
bodied  and  healtliy,  should  at  once  be  taught  a  wiiolesome 
lesson  of  the  value  of  industry  by  being  obliged  to  pay 
by  honest  hibor  at  least  for  their  board  and  keeping.  It 
is  true  the  reformation  of  the  offender  should  be  the  prin- 
cipal aim  of  imprisonment,  but  reformation,  if  permanent, 
must  be  based  upon  a  well-directed  system  of  labor, — labor 
profitable  and  remunerative.  Make  a  man  industrious, 
and  you  make  him  virtuous.'^  He  follows  this  opinion 
with  the  statement  that  all  self-sustaining  prisons,  of  which 
he  names  several,  '^are  also  model  institutions  for  good 
discipline  and  reformatory  success.''  Whether  or  not  in- 
dustry produces  virtue,  the  testimony  of  ^Ir.  Cordier  is 
clear  as  to  the  value  of  labor  as  an  element  of  prison  re- 
form. It  may  be  stated  in  this  connection  that  the  original 
idea  of  the  Allegheny  County  Work- House,  was  that  it 
should  be  made  a  reformatory  institution,  and  that  its  su- 
perintendent, appreciating  the  philanthropic  intentions  of 
those  with  whom  he  was  associated,  devoted  to  the  new 
enterprise  all  the  energies  of  his  heart  and  brain,  and  by 
his  sagacity  and  experience  soon  placed  it  among  the  self- 
sustaining  prisons  of  the  country.  His  success  was  so 
remarkable,  that  Rev.  E.  C.  Wines,  D.D.,  the  Secretary  of 
the  International  Prison  Reform  Congress,  prepared  a 
statement  of  the  results  as  far  as  they  could  be  gathered 
by  his  personal  inspection,  and  published  it  for  the  infor- 
mation of  prison  superintendents  and  managers  in  Europe 
as  well  as  in  the  United  States. 

The  practical  application  of  the  principles  of  prison 
reformation  to  convicts,  may  perhaps,  be  left  to  those  who 
have  made  penology  a  study  and  are  in  a  position  to  carry 
out  their  ideas.  But  the  responsibility  of  the  community 
for  the  care  and  proper  treatment  of  those  who  have  trans- 


276  THINGS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. 

gressed  its  laws  cannot  be  placed  entirely  upon  those  who 
inflict  the  penalty  and  have  control  of  its  conditions.  By 
the  infliction  of  penalty,  by  the  very  process  of  imprison- 
ment, society  assumes  a  responsibility  involving  certain 
duties.  The  fact  that  certain  members  of  society  have,  for 
perhaps  good  reasons,  been  selected  to  take  especial  charge 
and  care  of  all  who  may  be  convicted  of  crime,  does  not 
•release  the  community  from  an  interest  in,  and  concern  for, 
those  whom  its  laws  have  imprisoned.  Each  one  who  cares 
for  the  general  good,  should  use  active  effort  to  secure 
the  election  or  ap})ointinent  of  intelligent  and  worthy 
men  who  will  wisely  use  the  power  delegated  to  them, — 
managers  who  will  not  permit  the  prison  to  be  turned  from 
its  legitimate  reformatory  intent,  by  being  used  for  selfish 
or  political  ends,  or  its  positions  of  trust  to  be  used  as  re- 
wards for  party  services.  The  institutions  which  have 
been  most  successful  as  reformatories,  are  those  where  the 
public  has  extended  sympathy  and  practical  aid  in  the  way 
of  personal  visitation,  and  in  generous  benevolence,  for 
purposes  which  do  not  come  within  the  scope  of  the  law. 

Surely,  it  is  not  too  much  to  ask  of  the  public,  an  interest 
in  and  care  for  that  which  so  deeply  afl:ects  its  own  material 
welfare  as  the  reformation,  or  at  least  the  control,  of  its 
criminals.  We  would  rather  base  a  claim  lor  the  criminal 
and  all  that  concerns  him  on  the  ground  that,  depraved  as 
he  may  be,  he  is  still  a  child  of  the  Heavenly  Father, 
placed  by  his  crime  in  circumstances  where  the  blessed 
influences  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  may  be  thrown 
around  him  with  peculiar  force,  and  which,  entering  into 
his  soul,  may  return  him  to  society  prepared  to  enter  upon 
an  honest,  useful  life. 

THE    END. 


*  A 


;-♦. 


t 


5 ' 


Ui  W  'A     -^  > .. . 


•  /  ^ 


f' 


/, 

^'** 


